The Lili Chronicles One: Warriors of the Light
by Moon Warrior
Summary: Complete! Year 6. There's a new girl at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the new girl set out on a quest using ancient magic & the Four Elements of nature, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water to preserve the Light. It's better than it sounds, trust me! And don
1. The Silver Bubble

PROLOGUE   
  
  
Dumbledore could remember those words clearly. It had been almost fourteen years ago that he had heard them but they were still fresh in his memory. They needed to be, because if he ever forgot, the consequences could be disasterous. That day-   
  
His musing were broken off by a sharp rap on his office door. Minerva McGonagall's voice drifted through the wood.   
  
"Headmaster? The students will be here in half an hour, please remember the Sorting Hat this year." Dumbledore chuckled softly, remembering the year before, when he had accidentally neglected to bring the Sorting Hat out of his office for the feast.   
  
"I'll be down, Minerva, and with the hat. Now, go ahead, you have plenty of other things to worry about." He heard her grunt softly with slight annoyance, and after a moment, her footsteps faded away, and Dumbledore fell back to his thoughts. But this time, he conjured up a large silver bubble, which began to glow. And inside that silver bubble was an image of girl's bedroom, the mint green and white walls covered with latticework, and ivy growing up the sides in a strange, crisscrossing pattern.   
  
And there, on the bed, under the ivy, lay the owner of the room. It was a girl who looked about 16 years old. She was asleep, in shorts and a T-shirt, stretched out across a set of Disney sheets, on top of the blankets, one arm flopped over the side of the bed. She had shaggy brown hair, spread over the pillow.   
  
As Dumbledore watched, an alarm went off, and a radio began blasting a song that he had never heard. The girl jumped, and rolled right off the bed. He heard a loud "Ow!" and something small and tan colored went flying across the room, hitting a stuffed pig in the nose and knocking it over.   
  
She jumped up and ran after her carelessly thrown toy. As she passed the window, she seemed to do a double take. The bubble's view widened, and Dumbledore saw the brown owl fighting to stay airborne outside her window. Curiously, the girl opened the window, and let the bird in. It flew over and dropped a letter on her bed before taking a perch on her dresser.   
  
She rolled her eyes, rescued a small potted fern from being trampled by the owl, and sat down to read the letter. "Dear me... blah blah blah... Due to the overwhelming number of new students, you will not be attending Salem Academy of Magic for your sixth year as a student. You, along with fifty other students with promising grades, will attend one of the European or Canadian schools of magic. You will be joining the fifth year students at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Great Britain. Enclosed is your Hogwarts letter- hmm, Hogwarts, huh? Cool name. I think I'll- hey, you! Get away from that!" She abandoned the letter in an obviously futile attempt to save another plant from the rampaging owl, as the bubble dissolved.   
  
Dumbledore sat back in his chair and thought.


	2. The New Girl

DISCLAIMER: I own a sword. That's it. So try and sue me and I will chop you up into little bitty pieces.   
  
  
  
CHAPTER TWO: THE NEW GIRL   
  
  
For Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, the three sixth-years often called the "Gryffindor Musketeers," it had been a long, irritating train ride. "Can't believe the nerve of Ginny," Ron grumbled. "Dragging you away so you could talk, what did she have to say to you that me and Harry couldn't hear?"   
  
"It's Harry and I, Ron," Hermione corrected, irritating her friend even more. "And it's none of your business. Can't anyone have any privacy when you're around, or do you have to know everything?"   
  
"I gave you and Ginny privacy!" Ron objected loudly, making other students sitting near them swivel and stare at the three.   
  
"Yes, and that's why we had to go to another compartment so that you wouldn't eavesdrop!" Hermione snapped. "Honestly, you think that you-"   
  
"All right, you guys, look, the first years!" Harry interrupted hurriedly, seeing the beginnings of one of Ron and Hermione's famous "disagreements." It was rumored that when they fought, they could be heard all the way into the Slytherin dungeons. "Hey, who d'you think that is, there? She doesn't look like a first-year." His two friends stopped their argument and followed his pointing finger. There, at the end of the group of first years, standing with her arms folded across her chest and looking very annoyed at the whole situation, stood a girl about their age. She was not wearing the standard black, ankle-length Hogwarts robes; instead she was wearing a emerald green robe which fell to just above her knees, and buttoned up on her left side, the buttons ending at about her waist. ("An American Auror's uniform!" Hermione hissed.) Underneath the robe you could easily see a pair of flare jeans with black boots peeking out from under them, and a gold shirt. She was tall, and had light chestnut brown hair with a hint of gold, falling to just past her shoulders, pulled back into a thick, if untidy, ponytail. From this distance, it was impossible to see more of her features, but her posture told them her attitude at a glance.   
  
Irritated.   
  
Impatient.   
  
And most of all, bored.   
  
As they had talked, the Sorting Hat had begun and ended its song, and had started sorting the first years. As "Dominir, Auralie" was made the second new Gryffindor, Harry joined in the cheering, nudging Ron and Hermione. "Come on. The sooner they get this over with, the sooner we eat, right?"   
  
The Sorting of the first years passed quickly, and soon the only figure left was the brown-haired girl standing with her arms still crossed, glaring around the hall. She rolled her eyes as Dumbledore stood and gave a cheery smile to the members of all four houses.   
  
"This year, we have yet another new student in our midst. Due to the overcrowding of American schools, many schools from other nations, including Canada, France, Spain, and many, many others, have agreed to take on the extra students that the American schools cannot accomodate. One of these students will be joining our sixth year. Miss Grey is from the Salem Academy of Magic, and I am sure whichever house she joins will make her feel at home. Miss Grey, the hat, if you will?" He gestured to the stool, and grudgingly, she sat. The girl sat silently for a fair amount of time, and even though she could not see it, the student's expressions were slowly changing from curious to annoyed to downright murderous. Professor McGonagall hoped fervently that the hat would sort her soon, so that they could all eat.   
  
After a few more moments, the hat seemed to have decided. It called out "SLYTH-" and stopped. The girl's face was screwed up, and she seemed to be arguing angrily with the hat, her lips were moving quite fast. After a moment, the hat changed its mind. "GRYFF-" and it stopped again. And then it did something it had never done before.   
  
It spoke out loud.   
  
"Well, my goodness, I do wish you'd make up your mind. You can only go into one house, you know." The girl's lips moved again, and the hat replied, still loudly. "You have quite a mouth on you, young lady. All right, if that's your choice. I did say you'd do well there, although Slytherin is just as good, possibly better. GRYFFINDOR!"   
  
The girl stood up with a self-satisfied smile, ignoring the way she got barely any applause, and even then mostly from the staff table. She slid into an empty seat, and those sitting around her edged away slightly, not wanting to sit near anyone who was almost a Slytherin. She was polite enough, but somewhat cold, and the other Gryffindors were almost scared to look her in the eye when they passed her the potatoes.   
  
She did not eat a lot, but she ate it slowly enough so that she was one of the few people left in the Great Hall when the feast ended. The only others left were Harry, Ron, Hermione, and three fourth-years who were busy trying to build a castle out of their mashed potatoes. The Slytherin table, however, was empty. Its last occupants were busy at the Gryffindor table.   
  
"Well, well, well," Malfoy sneered. The girl looked up. "Why anyone who had the option to be in Slytherin would choose Gryffindor is beyond me. With brains like that, I'd say you belonged in Hufflepuff."   
  
"With a mouth like that, I'd say you belonged in a toilet," the girl retorted. Malfoy's face turned pink. Crabbe and Goyle looked confused, and the girl turned her attention to them. "Since you two look about as sharp as the average beach ball, I'll explain it in nice, simple terms for you, and no big words. He's talking shit." The two growled, but Malfoy shushed them with a wave of his hand.   
  
"If you weren't a girl, you would be in the hospital wing by now," he sneered.   
  
She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms behind her head and putting her feet up on the table, ignoring McGonagall's frown. "Oh, I'm so glad I have your mercy, what a horrible thing it would be if I had to kick your ass." She spoke with a sharp, clipped tone, sounding serious, but the sarcasm wasn't lost on Malfoy, and he seemed to snap.   
  
"So confident, are you? Crabbe, make her see reason," he said, looking around and seeing the last of the teachers leave the Great Hall. The troll-like boy nodded dumbly, and grabbed the girl's arm.   
  
But with what looked like a well-practised move, she twisted her arm around, while pulling her legs to the ground and sitting up straight. The result was Crabbe's being flung to the ground at her feet, and she smiled sweetly at Malfoy. "Oh yes, I see reason now. The reasoning that what happened to him-" she jerked her head at the prone body at her feet- "could happen to you. Now, I have to be going. Ta-ta." And she stood and sauntered past Malfoy, taking great care to step on Crabbe's hand.   
  
At the other side of the table, Harry Ron, and Hermione all took one look at each other and rose from their seats, following the brown-haired girl as she swept out of the hall. As they ran through the door, they saw the girl at the end of the hallway, speaking to a painting. "Well, if you could just tell me where Gryffindor house is, then you could go back to the stargazing without me bothering you." The centaur in the painting gave her a dirty look, and turned his back to her. She kicked the wall in exasperation, yelling, "Isn't ANYONE in this school helpful?"   
  
"Oh, yes, you just had the misfortune of running into Malfoy. He's about as helpful as a condom machine in the Vatican." Ron said, making the girl turn and jump.   
  
"Malfoy? That scrawny little pale kid?"   
  
"Yup."   
  
"Sounds right to me. He could rival G.W. Bush for the lowest IQ level." The girl grinned, showing sparkling white, if slightly uneven, teeth. "Hi, I'm Liliana Josephine Grey. Call me Lili."   
  
"I'm Ron Weasley. This is my best friend, Harry Potter, and my girlfriend, Hermione Granger."   
  
"Lily was my Mum's name," Harry said thoughtfully. Then- "You two are dating? When? How? Where? And most importantly, why didn't you tell me?" He glared only half-jokingly, at his two best friends.   
  
"Over the summer, we just kind of started, at the Burrow, and because the opportunity didn't come up. You didn't come to the Burrow this summer, remember?" Hermione rattled off the answers to his questions with a slight smile, and he grinned back.   
  
"Well, fine, you have my permission. Just no snogging in the common room, please, like Fred and Angelina? That's what broom closets are for."   
  
"And just how would you know, Mr. Potter?" Hermione laughed as he turned red. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, turning back to Lili. "You must think we're terribly rude."   
  
"Oh, no, not at all. It reminds me of how my friends and I back home used to act. We were always rude." She grinned, although it had a touch of bitterness in it. Up close, you could see that she was more interesting than pretty. She had shaggy brown hair, just a touch of gold in it, falling just to her shoulder blades, and it had the ragged, layered look of hair that had been cut very short by someone with no hairdressing talent (or a pair of scissors) and had then grown out again. It had fallen out of her ponytail, and was hanging like a curtain around her face. Each silky lock was separate from each of the others, and also sticking up in every direction. Her eyes were deep blue, almost violet, at least twice as large as they should have been, almost elven looking. There was a small scar about an inch long, running under her right eye and across her cheekbone. Her skin was rosy, and offset her hair nicely. She had a snub nose, spattered with a few light freckles. Her mouth, like her eyes, was much too big for her face, and hung lopsidedly. She was at least three inches taller than Hermione, but an inch or two shorter than Harry, who had had a growth spurt at the end of his fifth year, and a good foot shorter than Ron, who, by the way he was growing, seemed to be ready to rival Hagrid.   
  
"Are you an Auror?" Hermione asked. "I'm sorry- it's just, the uniform-"   
  
"Oh no, it's all right," Lili responded. "I'm not. I just like Auror's robes, and I didn't have time to change before getting on the train. What are the standard Auror's colors here? I know America is green and gold."   
  
"Gray and navy," Harry told her. Hermione had told him while they ate. "Where in America are you from?" He asked curiously. Her accent told him that she was from a more northern part of the country, but he couldn't quite place where it was.   
  
"Suburb of New York City. Well, kind of a suburb. Okay, not a suburb at all. I live in a rural area of New York State, and it was one helluva drive to get to SAM, let me tell you that. There's no school train up there." They had been walking as they talked, and suddenly Lili stopped short. "Um, I kind of forgot to ask, but do you know where Gryffindor house is? I didn't go up with the first years, and I don't know the way."   
  
"Of course we do, we're Gryffindors too," Ron smiled, waving his red and gold tie around. She smiled at them in relief. "We have all our classes together, too. But what did you sign up for?"   
  
"You mean electives? Well, there was no Magical Weaponry or Nature Magic, so it was... um... let's see... Ancient Runes.... and... Divination. Divination is just a fancy word for fortune-telling, right? And what do you take?"   
  
"Oh... she takes Arithmancy, and we take Divination. We all take Care of Magical Creatures." Harry smiled at Lili, in a 'too bad' kind of way.   
  
"Oh, animals aren't too much my thing. I get along with them fine, but... I don't know. It's not challenging enough. Hey, who's this?" They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who smiled down at the new Gryffindor.   
  
"Password?" she asked kindly.   
  
"Bongo drum." Hermione said absently, and Ron ducked as the portrait swung open. The others, being shorter, did not have this problem, and laughed as he stood up straight again.   
  
Their evening passed quickly. While Harry and Hermione watched, Lili and Ron played chess, Lili losing miserably. "I hate this game," she muttered, as Ron's black knight wrestled her bishop off the board. "Can't you have a little mercy? Just a little?" He grinned, and easily put her in checkmate. The white king took off his crown and chucked it at the black king's head, knocking the piece off the board.   
  
Standing up, Hermione yawned, and laughed as she watched it pass around the little circle. "Well, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow's the first day of classes, and I don't want to oversleep."   
  
"Some things never change," Ron muttered under his breath.   
  
"I think I'll go to sleep too," Lili said. "A nine-hour plane flight isn't exactly refreshing. That little kid kept kicking my seat. I hate kids. If I'm ever a mother, just curse me then and there. I won't want to live. I can't babysit, either. Last time I tried, I scarred the kids for life. I hear Marthie's still in therapy."   
  
"How did you go from talking about you being tired to you not being good with kids?" Harry's brow furrowed, and Lili laughed.   
  
"Oh, don't mind me. My train of thought often goes off the tracks." And with a grin and a wave, she trotted up the steps.   
  
******************************************************************************   
  
"JOY TO THE WORLD, BARNEY'S DEAD, I BAAARBECUUUED HIS HEAD!" Lili's voice rang out of the sixth year girl's bathroom. Hermione put down her book with a sigh.   
  
"You know, Lili, the last person I heard singing that song was seven years old. Why, for the love of all things sacred, are you singing it?" She complained.   
  
"WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS BODY, I FLUSHED IT DOWN THE POTTY- huh, what, Hermione? What'd you say?" Her head poked out of the bathroom door, wet hair dripping over her eyes and onto the carpet.   
  
"Why on Earth are you singing that?" Hermione pulled off her new reading glasses and frowned at her roommate. It was three weeks into the school year, and Hermione was fed up with the way Lili would go from bouncy and hyper to cold and sullen in the space of about thirty seconds. She folded her arms and waited for an answer.   
  
"I dunno, really. Just popped into my head, and I started singing. And I used Barney because next to valley girls, Barney is the Ultimate Evil." She grinned and grabbed a towel to start drying her hair.   
  
"Uh-huh," Hermione said, giving her a fish eye. "And what about You-Know-Who?"   
  
"Oh, him?" Lili flopped down on her bed, and grinned, although Hermione thought that it seemed a little forced. "Barney is worse. Now, give me back my pillow."   
  
Hermione rolled her eyes, and threw Lili's pillow back to her bed. "And another thing- what is with your moods? One minute, you're acting like a cheerleader after three cups of coffee and a bag of sugar, the next, you have the life view of Edgar Allen Poe."   
  
"Gods, Hermione, I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition."   
  
"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"   
  
Lili rolled her eyes and grinned. "Okay, here's how I think of my psyche: I have two personalities, not literally, but just listen; one is bouncy and hyper and wild, the other is gloomy, sullen, and belligerent. The first I call the Demented Cheerleader Personality, it's as crazy as anything, and it only comes out when I'm relaxed and around friends. The rest of the time personality two is in charge, and I call this one the Daria Morgandorffer Personality, after one of my favorite TV show characters. When I'm like this, I'll bite your head off, and I have no mercy. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Liliana Josephine Grey. Thank you and goodnight." And with that, she closed her hangings and left Hermione staring at the place where her friend had been.   
  
  
Lili, inside her curtains, was silently fuming. Not at Hermione, who had asked an innocent (and not totally unexpected) question, but at the world in general. At herself in particular. She thought back to what the Sorting Hat had said to her.   
  
"Well my, my my! An Andriguez! I thought your line had left Europe!"   
  
**Excuse me?** Lili had thought back.   
  
"Andriguez, my dear, Andriguez. Your mother's line. Very powerful magical family, you know. And my, do you have the family talent. But this isn't the time to talk about your family. Now, what house should you go into?"   
  
**Not Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw,** she thought firmly. **Anything but those.**   
  
"Really? You'd do well in Ravenclaw, you know, although Hufflepuff is far from your style. Whyever not?"   
  
**Because yellow and blue just make me look so fat,** Lili thought airily, and she almost thought she heard the hat snicker. It didn't matter, though, she rarely told anyone her real thoughts, and the hat was no exception.   
  
"So Slytherin or Gryffindor. Good choices, you'd do well in either. And you certainly have the aptitude for Slytherin life, so I hope green doen't make you look fat."   
  
**Oh ho,** Lili thought. **The thing has a sense of humor.**   
  
"Yes, my dear, I do," the hat said irritatedly. "And your lack of tact is certainly a Gryffindor trait."   
  
**I'm sorry,** she thought sheepishly. **I forgot you could read minds.**   
  
"I could tell," the hat said dryly. "I think I know. You'd do very well in SLYTH-"   
  
**Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!** she thought frantically. **I don't think I want to be in Slytherin.**   
  
"Why not?" The hat was obviously frustrated at being interrupted and having its judgement questioned. "Traditionally, the Andriguez line was mostly Slytherin, although there were a fair amount of Gryffindors."   
  
**I don't know,** she thought slowly. **But I don't. I want to be in Gryffindor.**   
  
"My dear, you ARE a Slytherin. It's in your nature."   
  
**Have you looked at my nature? Or have you just listened to me talk to you?**   
  
The hat mumbled something, and Lili felt it rummaging around in her mind. The sensation was far more personal than she liked, but she put up with it. And, after a moment, she heard the hat again, whispering into her ear. "Well well well, you were right. GRYFF-"   
  
**Too bad, I do like the idea of Slytherin...** she thought about it for a moment, but decided Gryffindor was for her.   
  
"Well, my goodness, I do wish you'd make up your mind. You can only go into one house, you know."   
  
**Of course I know, you cloth idiot!** Lili was getting impatient, and starting to forget to be polite to the hat.   
  
"You have quite a mouth on you, young lady. All right, if that's your choice. I did say you'd do well there, although Slytherin is just as good, possibly better. GRYFFINDOR!"   
  
Lili slowly let the memory slip away. Quietly, she slid under the covers of her bed and fell asleep.   
  
  
  
  
(A/N) I was going to leave out the memory of the Sorting hat, but I figured it helped everyone understand Lili a bit more. Okay, and there's chapter two! Now review, dammit! I'm waiting....


	3. Trelawney

CHAPTER THREE   
  
  
  
Lili was, to put it politely, a unique addition to Gryffindor house. Everyone thought her incredibly strange, and none of them were too far off the mark. Herbology was by far her best subject, and she had a talent for it that surpassed Professor Sprout herself. By early November, as soon as she stepped into the greenhouse, every plant inside would turn towards her and stretch themselves as far as they could without leaving their pots. The plants that could leave the dirt often did, and after a few weeks, she had young Mandrakes trailing her almost everywhere, demanding in shrill little voices to be told a story. After she was knocked unconscious on several occasions, the Mandrakes quickly learned to stay quiet once out of their pots.   
  
Lili had an incredible talent with plants, the Mandrakes were only the beginning. The Venomous Tentacula refused to bite her, and quailed, hiding behind its leaves when she threw it a furious glance after it bit Ron. Soon enough, she had dropped both of her normal electives in favor of a few hours of advanced Herbology. Hermione was a little put out that she was being surpassed in even one of her classes, but made her peace with Lili after being given a large and beautiful Canap plant as a birthday gift.   
  
She also had that rare gift of unconcious power. Wherever she went and whatever she did, it was accepted without question. She had that air of subtle natural power that people watch jealously and wish they had, and often make fools of themselves trying to imitate. In the Hogwarts social hierarchy, Draco Malfoy was the undisputed king, although Harry Potter ran a close second. And Lili was most undoubtedly the queen.   
  
One day in early December, Hermione, Ron, and Lili were lounging on the Quidditch bleachers, watching the Gryffindor team practice, and arguing. "Hermione, you really should read "The Prince". Even if it is a Muggle book, it has some very good ideas, and it's not only evil people who read it. I read it, and I'm not evil, am I?"   
  
"I'm not saying you are, Lili," Hermione replied sharply. She knew that she was arguing more because she disliked the idea that one of her friends had read something she hadn't than because she didn't like the book. Ron grinned, he could tell what Hermione was thinking. "I'm just saying that it's mostly Slytherins and such who have read it, people that turned out wrong."   
  
"Yes, but just because-" she was cut off in mid-sentence as Harry swooped down on his broom and grabbed her. His practice had ended a few minutes ago, and he had decided to have some fun. He flew higher, and she began to shriek. Clinging to the broom with one hand and the front of Harry's robes with the other, she yelled, "Harry Potter, I am going to kill you! Put me down!" Harry laughed, and helped her to adjust her seat on the broom. "I really mean it, put me down!"   
  
"Why?" he asked, as he flew even higher. Lili shut her eyes tightly as he did a loop, hearing the distant call of admiration from Ron. He turned into a steep dive, and Lili snapped. Screaming, she tried to jump off the broom. Only Harry grabbing her wrist stopped her from falling. He flew down to the ground and she immediately fell off the broom, ran to a corner of the field and threw up. He marched to where she was bent over, and glared at her.   
  
"What in the hell did you do, Lili? You tried to jump off the broom? You could have died!"   
  
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and glared up at him, her face pale. "Harry James Potter," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "Never, EVER do that to me again. I am afraid of heights, and I don't even realize it when I jump, but I always do. And if you ever do that to me again, I will strangle you with your own intestines." This was a common threat from Lili, but the usual joking tone wasn't there. She was deadly serious.   
  
"Afraid of heights? Paranoid is more like it," Ron muttered to Hermione, who nodded fervently in agreement. Turning on her heel, she marched off the field. Shaking her head, Hermione checked her watch.   
  
"It's time for Potions. Lili should be able to make it there on her own, we don't need to follow her. Harry, put your broom away! Snape won't like you dragging it along with you." Harry glanced from the broom to Hermione, and smiled sheepishly, sliding it carefully into the broomshed.   
  
  
  
Lili was standing quietly outside the door to the Potions dungeon. Malfoy was trying vainly to torment her, but she was having nothing to do with him. Relieved to find new prey approaching, he turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "What happened to Miss Stone-Face here?" He sneered. "Did she look into a mirror? Saw her own reflection?"   
  
"At least she has a reflection, Malfoy," Ron shot back. Malfoy put a hand to his heart.   
  
"Oh, I'm wounded, Weasley. You couldn't think up anything better? Well, I'll save you the trouble of having to think. I know you're out of practise. I challenge you to a wizard's duel. Right here, right now."   
  
"Fine." Ron rolled up his sleeves, and pulled out his wand. But Lili stepped in front of him.   
  
"No," she said sharply. "I'll fight you, Malfoy. I challenge you."   
  
The pale boy grinned, looking down his nose at Lili, who was a few inches shorter than he was. "All right then. Looks like you'll have to wait, then, Weasley. I'm about to get my pound of flesh from this one."   
  
Lili shook her head with a grim smile. "You've never even read that play, have you, Malfoy? If you did you'd know what happens in the end." She pointed her wand at him. "On the count of three. One. Two. Th-" She was cut off as Malfoy abruptly threw the Furnuculus Curse at her. Malfoy was dueling the Slytherin way, and rule number one was never wait until the count finishes.   
  
But Lili had been expecting it, after all, she had almost been in Slytherin herself. She dodged it easily, and threw back a curse of her own. Malfoy managed to block it just in time. But instead of sending a curse back at her, he swiftly pivoted, shouting out, "Verderana!" A jet of light shot out of his wand, hitting Hermione squarely in the stomach. With a shriek and a loud pop, she turned into a toad.   
  
For a moment, everyone stared at the toad. Then Lili rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "That is it!" She muttered, and she threw her wand to the side and launched herself at Malfoy.   
  
The two of them rolled around on the floor for a moment, a kicking, punching, biting ball of flesh and hair. The others in the hallway glanced at each other for a moment, then, with a loud roar, both sides, Gryffindor and Slytherin, joined the brawl. The lone toad hopped nervously to the wall, doing its best to avoid being squashed.   
  
The fight was interrupted by a loud bang down the hallway. All the fighters looked up, some with hold on other people's hair, some clutching wounds. Standing in front of them were Professors Snape and McGonagall, holding their wands and looking ready to spit nails. Everyone froze in fear, except for Lili and Malfoy, who were still on the ground, trying to kill each other. Lili was crouched over Malfoy, knee over his legs, punching him violently. Malfoy freed an arm and hit her; her grip loosened, and the fight became more violent.   
  
"Miss Grey! Mr. Malfoy!" Professor McGonagall shrieked, and both of them looked up, Malfoy wincing as his neck cracked. "What is going on here?"   
  
"It's not my fault, Professor, she attacked me!" Malfoy cried, wiggling out of Lili's hold. She snorted in annoyance.   
  
"And I suppose turning Hermione into a toad wasn't your fault either, Malfoy?" She sneered. The toad in question hopped out of the shadows and looked at McGonagall beseechingly.   
  
McGonagall, one eyebrow raised, muttered "Finite Incantem," and a very relieved Hermione, her face red, reappeared.   
  
"Oh, thank you, Professor! I was afraid I'd get stepped on like that." She smiled gratefully.   
  
Professor McGonagall turned back to Lili and Malfoy. "All right then. Who started it?"   
  
Lili raised her head high with a regal air spoiled only by the large bruise beginning to blossom around her left eye. "I attacked Malfoy first, Professor. But only because he turned Hermione into a toad, without provocation."   
  
McGonagall looked around her. "Is this true?" The Gryffindors nodded emphatically, while the Slytherins muttered under their breaths. "All right. Miss Grey, you have a detention. And twenty points from Gryffindor." The Gryfindors muttered among themselves, McGonagall was being unusually light. "And Mr. Malfoy, seventy-five points from Slytherin. No detention." The Gryffindors howled in outrage, but McGonagall ignored them and continued. "Mr. Malfoy, the Headmaster sent me to tell you that you will be leaving for home tomorrow morning. You are to go directly to your dormitory and pack. And Miss Grey, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasley, all of you to the Headmaster's office, now. Mr. Potter, I believe you know where it is. The password is 'acid pop'."   
  
"Oh, Lili," Hermione muttered, once they were out of hearing range. "Why did you have to go and attack Malfoy? I was perfectly fine."   
  
"It wasn't all about that," Lili shrugged. "I've been looking for an excuse to pummel Malfoy for some time. This just worked very nicely." Harry rolled his eyes as he muttered the password to the gargoyle, which hopped aside and let them enter.   
  
As the four entered his office, Lili and Hermione still bickering quietly, Dumbledore looked up. "Ah, welcome," he said, putting down his quill and moving a stack of parchment to the side."Mr. Weasley, Miss Grey, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, please take a seat. Do you know why you are here?"   
  
"We didn't do anything!" Hermione said.   
  
"Well, I did," Lili muttered. Hermione elbowed her in the side.   
  
"Please, calm down Miss Granger, you are not in trouble." He smiled at them. "Let me cut right to the chase. Harry, do you remember in your third year, when you heard Professor Trelawney's second real prediction?" Harry nodded mutely, and Lili looked as though she had some scathing comment about Professor Trelawney that she was working hard at to keep in. They had, to say the least, not gotten along too well. "Her first prediction, the one she made before the one you heard, is finally coming into effect. Allow me to read it to you." He picked up a piece of parchment, and read slowly, emphasizing every word.   
  
"'The elements of nature will be embodied by four powerful witches and wizards of our time. Together, before the turn of the millenium, all the elements will find their legendary weapons and use them to create the light that will banish the dark. Earth is the master swordsman, Air is the Archer, Fire carries the spear, and Water is the Defender. The Elements will know each other from the past, and know things about each other they have never been told. Air, Fire, and Water are close, but Earth is far and alone. But Earth is the tie that will bind the others closer to create the light.'" Dumbledore put the paper down and looked each of them in the eye. "I believe the four of you are the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water."   
  
Each one had a different reaction. Harry sighed, and his expression clearly said: great, another thing for Voldemort to want to kill me over. Hermione looked estatic at the idea. Ron and Lili glanced at each other, both with identical looks of skeptism on their faces.   
  
"Allow me to explain. Harry Potter- Air." Dumbledore started pacing around the office. "My first clue was your talent at flying. You will always be most comfortable in your own element. Also, Air is known for mental and psychic powers, as well as visions. So add the visions you have of Lord Voldemort, and you have an accurate Air Mage. I told you once that when you were older, I would let you know why Voldemort tried to kill you when you were young. This is the reason."   
  
"But Professor Dumbledore, if we're all Mages, like you said, why did You-Know-Who only attack Harry?" Hermione looked about to burst with curiosity.   
  
Dumbledore smiled benevolently. "First of all, he only knew about three of you: Miss Grey, for some reason unknown to us, was not recognized as having magical talents until the age of fourteen. She has trained every summer since then to bring herself to the level she is now. And may I applaud you for that, Miss Grey. Additionally, Voldemort had a personal vendetta against the Potters. James had taken down his second in command at one point, and the opportunity to hurt the Potters and additionally destroy an Elemental Mage was too much for him to resist. He intended to destroy the rest of you after the Potters, but, as we know, he met his downfall there and then."   
  
He looked back at Hermione. "Miss Granger, I believe you to be Water. For one thing Water is the most feminine of the elements. Also, Water is intensely loyal, shown in you when you put aside your own doubts and fears in order to help Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. And, prophetic dreams, which I believe you have had on occasion." Hermione turned red, and her friends looked at her in amazement.   
  
"You had dreams?" Harry asked in amazement. "You never told us?" Hermione went redder.   
  
"Well, yes," she said carefully. "But they're very hard for me to remember. They're why I was able to figure out about the basilisk in our second year, you know. I had a dream, but I didn't remember it until later. And then of course I was Petrified, and..." she trailed off, and Lili grinned at her.   
  
"So that's what you've been talking about," Lili mused. "You talk in your sleep, you know," she explained. "I was wondering why you dreamed about the questions on tests, and then those were the questions. And thanks, by the way, your dreams have really helped my Charms grade."   
  
Ron grinned. "And Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura, the old bat!"   
  
"Yes, well," Dumbledore said politely. "Mr. Weasley, you seem to be the element of Fire. For one thing, your rather... easily-triggered temper, a famous Fiery trait. Others are strong emotions, a tendency towards quick, sometimes rash, decisions, and a representation of courage and strength." (Ron went very red here.) "And lastly, the famous animosity between Fire and Water which is shown quite vividly through the... arguments between Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, although Fire and Water balance each other, and turn out excellent companions in the end."   
  
"Oh yes, excellent companions," Lili said, in a stage whisper. "Very excellent. Why, just yesterday I found them enjoying each other's excellent company in the broom closet on the fourth floor." Both Ron and Hermione turned bright red, and Lili snickered.   
  
"That's it, I'm learning a locking charm," Ron muttered.   
  
"Ahem." Dumbledore cleared his throat, and they all turned back to him. "One element left. I belive it is obvious, but I enjoy stating the obvious. Miss Grey, of course, represents the element of Earth. Her talents in Herbology alone prove it." Lili shrugged, if she was really an elemental, then of course she would be nothing but Earth.   
  
Dumbledore looked at the four teenagers. One looked resigned, two still looked skeptical, and one was bouncing off the chair with enthusiasm.   
  
"Hermione," he heard Lili whisper. "Did you take a sip of my coffee?"   
  
"Yes, why?" She responded, jiggling her foot at a high speed. Lili groaned.   
  
"Hermione, you drink decaf! That had caffeine! A serious amount of caffeine, oh, you're going to be bouncing off the walls today..." Dumbledore had to hide a smile.   
  
"You have heard the prophecy," Dumbledore said suddenly. They all turned and looked at him. "I assume you remember the bit about the Legendary Weapons. The first three are relatively easy to figure out: Earth has a sword, Air has a bow and arrows, Fire has a spear. Water is a bit harder to figure out. The Defender. But, if you consider the traditional weapons of war, besides a sword, the one thing that every knight would carry was a shield. Therefore, it makes sense that Water's weapon would be a shield. At the moment, it is your task to find the Temple that each weapon is in. And, when you have found all the weapons, you must use them to create the Light spoken of in the prophecy, to defeat Voldemort. Now,"   
  
He pushed a globe to the center of the desk. An ordinary, non-magical, muggle globe. Ron raised an eyebrow. "I want you to try and locate your element's Temple. Use your mind, stretch out with your feelings."   
  
"Thanks for the advice, Obi-Wan," Lili muttered as she closed her eyes to concentrate. She was feeling a bit nervous, and when she was nervous, she always got sarcastic. Her mind roamed the globe, searching for a hint of green. Sitting next to her, she heard the others make small sounds of surprise as they found the Temples. No... it wasn't in America... or Canada... or South America... not Asia, or Africa.... not Australia, and she couldn't find it in Europe... maybe Dumbledore could help her. Drawing her mind back into her body, she felt something strange. It felt a bit like... like the sensation she got when she saw the first flowers blooming in the spring. She probed the feeling a little deeper, and smiled. Without a doubt, it was the Earth Temple. She opened her eyes. "Here." She touched a spot on the globe, and her finger left a green spot to mark it. She saw a blue spot around the Great Lakes in America, a yellow one in the Himalayas, and a red one off in Egypt.   
  
"Well done!" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, satisfied. "Well. Now that you have located your Temples, following the Call shall be the proverbial piece of cake."   
  
"The Call, sir?" Hermione asked quizzically.   
  
"Yes, Miss Granger, the Call. The summoning a Mage recieves to guide him or her to their Temple. Now," he leaned forward in his chair. "Voldemort will do anything to stop you from fufilling this prophecy. To start with, he will attempt to steal the weapons. He cannot be allowed to do so. You must gather your weapons before he does, and avoid being murdered as you do so. I have recieved word that Voldemort is growing more and more anxious as the new millenium nears, and he has set out to find the weapons for himself. So, I am sending you out to get them yourselves. You now know where they are. You must use your Mage powers to survive."   
  
"Wait, wait, wait. Mage powers? What are these Mage powers?" Lili asked, a new gleam in her eyes.   
  
Dumbledore shook his head. "I am sorry to say that I do not know. It is not my field of research. But here is a book that has been written on the subject of Element Mages, you may find it useful." He handed Hermione a large leather-bound book with faded gold lettering on the spine, and she took it, looking as though Christmas had come early. "I daresay that you will find many things incorrect, but it may help you. Now," he finished, "You must set out to get the weapons. Tomorrow morning. You will meet us at five-thirty am on the Quidditch pitch. If you have a broomstick better than the school's-"   
  
"What? Wait a minute. What's this about brooms?" All the color from Lili's rosy face drained, leaving her pale and even more elven looking. Her eyes were wide, and they seemed to be taking up her entire face.   
  
"Brooms, Miss Grey. You will be traveling on brooms," Dumbledore said, and anyone else would have had sounded irritated.   
  
"No," she said flatly.   
  
"No?" he repeated mildly.   
  
"No," she said again. "I won't fly. I can't fly. I literally can't. Ask Harry what I did the last time I flew."   
  
"She jumped off the broom," Harry said grimly, not waiting to be asked.   
  
Lili nodded. "I'm afraid of heights," she said, making what was possibly the understatement of the century. "Can't we hitchike?"   
  
"To the Himalayas?" Hermione asked, amused.   
  
"Miss Grey, you must use the brooms. If you would like, I will ask Professor Snape to mix you up an Anti-Phobia Potion. It won't rid you of it, but it will make it much less acute. You won't have any need to jump off a broom." Dumbledore smiled, but Lili seemed less than reassured. "Pack lightly, warm clothes, although no more than you can fit in a backpack, please. I will provide all you need other than that: food, money, tents, and all those such things." He rose from his chair and opened the door, watching them file out. "I will see you at five-thirty tomorrow morning, on the Quidditch pitch." And he closed the door.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(A/N) Okay, I realize the height phobia might be overdoing it slightly, but hey, I'm the all-powerful writer, right? She hates heights (understatement). Capiesh?


	4. The Journey Begins

DISCLAIMERS: I'm not JK Rowling, the only thing I own is Lili and the plot. But could I borrow Harry? Just for a little while? Please? I'll bring him back...   
  
  
  
CHAPTER FOUR: THE JOURNEY BEGINS   
  
  
  
At five o'clock the next morning, Lili was woken up by Hermione shaking her. "Lili, get up, Lili, we have to go! Get up!"   
  
"Just five more minutes, Mom..." Lili mumbled into her pillow.   
  
"I'm not your bloody Mum, I'm Hermione, now get your butt out of bed!" Hermione dragged the covers back, and Lili groaned and tried to pull them back up.   
  
"Go away, Hermione. Go find the lousy weapons yourself, let Voldemort take over the world, I don't care, just let me sleep!" She buried her face in her pillow and refused to move until Hermione threatened her with a Tickling Charm.   
  
"Okay, okay, I'm up, no tickling! Jeez, how can you be so awake?" Lili yawned. She grabbed a towel and ran into the bathroom. Hermione shook her head and dragged two backpacks out from under her bed, taking care not to wake Parvati and Lavendar.   
  
Forty-five minutes later, Hermione was dragging a complaining and still sopping Lili across the Quidditch pitch, along with three brooms and two backpacks. Lili was still struggling to brush her choppy hair. Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore were waiting for them, looking a little annoyed. "Sorry," Hermione said breathlessly, "Lili fell back asleep." There was very little talk, except for Lili's almost incessant moaning of the words "Starbucks" and "coffee."   
  
Dumbledore handed Lili a small jar. Uncorking it, she gagged at the stench. "This is the potion? Please tell me it's not..." she trailed off, and, with a look at Dumbldore's face, groaned. She winced, set her face, and took a gulp of the potion. It took all of her self-control not to spit it back out over everything. "Well, that was nasty," she said cheerfully. "But I think it worked. So, are we going to go?" The others shrugged, and straddled their broomsticks. Ron frowned at his, it had twigs sticking out in all directions.   
  
Harry looked back at Dumbledore; he had relied on the man for guidance and protection, he was almost afraid to leave. But he wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing. Squaring his shoulders, Harry nodded farewell at Dumbledore and rose into the sky. The others followed him.   
  
Albus Dumbledore shaded his eyes from the rising sun, waving farewell to the four students as they disappeared against the brightening sky. "Goodbye, and may Lady Luck be with you," he murmured. "Good fortune to you, Warriors of the Light."   
  
*******************************************************************************   
  
They flew for hours, heading for where Harry assumed the Earth Temple was. Ron and Hermione flew ahead of Harry and Lili, who was doing her best to merely stay on the broom. Hermione had actually been a quick learner under Ron's tutelage, a fact that Harry did not miss, especially since she had been so bad at flying lessons in their first year.   
  
Lili was much worse than Hermione, simply because of her horrible fear of heights, despite the potion. Lili kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, refusing to look to either side, or down. Her face was a stony mask, which Harry suspected covered terror. Knowing Lili for just a few months told him that she did not express emotion easily, and was a good actress. If she didn't want you to know something, you would have no idea. She was a very good actress.   
  
"I prefer the term b.s. artist, thank you very much." She said, not looking at Harry, who jumped.   
"What did you say?" He asked, confused. It was like she had been reading his mind.   
  
"I said I prefer b.s artist over actress. What, didn't you say that I was a good actress?" Her eyes darted from straight in front of her to him, then back again, and her face turned a bit green.   
  
"No, I was just thinking that, though."   
  
She considered his words for a moment, then called up ahead. "Hey, Hermione! I want to see that book that Professor Dumbledore gave us, let's land!"   
  
The other girl gave a quick nod, and both of them swooped towards the ground, Hermione a lot more gracefully than Lili, who wobbled into the turn and fell off her broom at a foot off the ground. The boys shrugged and followed them.   
  
"Oof!" Lili got up and dusted herself off, a lot more comfortable now that she was on solid earth. "Okay Hermione, you have the book? I want to check out our powers; you know, see what we can do." Hermione pulled the book out of her bag, and the two girls pored over it for a few minutes. Ron picked up a rock and tossed it to Harry, and the two of them played a halfhearted game of catch, ending when Harry missed the rock and ended up with a bruised rib.   
  
"Ohhh, I've found it!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, and the others looked at her. "Here, our powers: supposedly we can change into our elements, summon our elements, and control our elements. Plus, we have heightened ability in the sort of thing that element controls, like its characteristics. Earth is healing, air is psychic abilities, water is divination" -Hermione frowned- "and fire is strength. Also, we have some sort of short-range telecommunication."   
  
"I thought so!" Lili exclaimed triumphantly.   
  
"Yes, but only twenty meters and under. And our element can't kill us. Harry, a fall can't kill you- so that's why you were okay when you fell back in third year!- I can't drown, Ron can't burn, Lili can't be crushed. Interesting."   
  
"Yeah, you could say that," Ron said. "So does this mean that I can throw balls of flame at people?"   
  
"Sure does," Lili replied, ignoring Hermione's cries to not encourage him.   
  
"Awesome," Ron grinned. He held out his palm, and a dot of fire appeared there. It began to grow, and the glow illuminated Ron's face, although it was pale compared to his grin. "Look at this! Hey- wait a minute- it won't stop! It won't stop growing! Help!" The ball of flame was the size of a beach ball and still growing.   
  
"Oh, honestly," Hermione tutted. She threw out a palm, and a wave of water enveloped Ron, washing over him and leaving him soaked and sputtering.   
  
Harry put his head in his hands. "I think we need to work on this," he muttered.   
  
*******************************************************************************   
  
"Okay, Harry, it's your turn." Hermione, Ron, and Lili had finished their practice, and with help, each had mastered their powers. They had first helped Ron figure out how to stop the fireball growing when he wanted, then worked from there. Hermione had pulled everything off perfectly, witht the exception of controlling the water: she couldn't get a firm enough grip, and it refused to shape itself. Lili had gotten stuck when she tried to change into a form of the Earth: she had changed into a lily flower and had been unable to change back for fifteen minutes, although she had been delighted to find out that she could make things grow. Now it was Harry's turn.   
  
"Okay, first of all, shape the air. Into a... a stool. Right at my feet." Hermione nodded encouragingly.   
  
Taking a deep breath, Harry visualized the air as a stool, nice and solid, for Hermione to sit on... It wasn't working. "Come on Harry, you can do it," she said.   
  
"I'm trying!" he snapped back at her. She sniffed, slightly offended.   
  
"Do or do not, there is no try," Lili said, the perfect picture of serenity. Harry, having never seen a Star Wars movie, took these words at their full value. A second later, the air was solid as a rock. "Well done, Harry!" she said happily. "All right, now become the puff of air. Be one with the air." Harry rolled his eyes, but transformed, without a hitch, into the puff of air and back again. "You'd make a great spy with that trick, Harry," Lili told him. He shook his head.   
  
"Nah, I couldn't keep my mouth shut," he told her, and focused on creating a small whirlwind. "But now that we've practised, and we're all good working with our powers... sort of... can we go?"   
  
"Nope," Lili said breezily.   
  
"No?"   
  
"Nope," she replied, as if 'no' and 'nope' had two entirely different meanings. "It's getting dark, and I'm cold. Besides, I refuse to set foot anywhere near that infernal broom again tonight." Not waiting for an answer, she opened her back and began pulling out TV dinners (three courses, with chocolate cake for dessert).   
  
"Hey, she's right." Hermione shrugged and began unpacking the tent. Ron called up a small bonfire, which hovered an inch off the ground, burning off nothing. Harry, left without a job, proceeded to tease Hermione until she hexed him. Ron, shaking his head, removed the hex.   
  
  
  
The evening went peacefully enough after that. The dinners opened like popcorn, over the fire, and proved themselves to be excellent, although the turkey was a little dry. And there was some yelling over the tent; which was not magical, and very cramped with four people sharing it. But nevertheless, when all the cries of "let go of my pillow!" and "okay, Ron, move your elbow" and "OW! That was my foot, idiot!" were finished, the evening was peaceful enough.   
  
It must have been somewhere around four o'clock in the morning when Harry was shaken awake. He jammed his glasses on his nose, and saw Lili's determined face hovering over his bed, her hair hanging in her eyes. Hermione, awake also, was shaking Ron.   
"Get up," she said. "We're going to the temple."   
  
  
  
(A/N) Yes yes yes, Cliffie, I know! Don't you all hate me? Now go review!


	5. Earth

DISCLAIMER: Oh, I am so sick of doing this. I've churned out four chapters tonight already. What's mine is mine, and what isn't isn't. Good? Okay.   
  
  
CHAPTER FIVE: EARTH   
  
  
  
  
  
Lili refused to tell the others what had gotten her so upset. She transfigured their pajamas into Muggle hiking clothes as they walked, after the third time Hermione's nightshirt had gotten caught on a bush. While Ron complained about his hatred of camouflage print, Lili stopped them all and made them listen.   
  
"The Earth Temple is right over here. I need to get the sword now."   
  
"That's what you woke us up for at four in the morning?" Ron exploded. "A bloody piece of metal?"   
  
Lili looked him square in the eye. "That, and the fact that if I don't get it now, the Death Eater inside the Temple will."   
  
  
The Temple didn't look like much, it was true. In fact, if it hadn't been for Lili, they would have passed it by entirely. But she knew where it was. She stopped in front of a large tangle of thorny vines, no different than anything else in the forest, except it was maybe a little larger and sharper. She raised her arms high above her head, clasping her hands together. A green tint came to her fingertips, and as she moved her hands apart, the briars in their way moved too, forming an arched path. Like a person in a dream, she dropped her hands and stepped forward, not even glancing back at the three friends behind her.   
  
The passageway of thorns led them into a great stone room, with windows cut into the walls. But no sunlight came in through them; they were covered with vines. And in the center of this room lay three great cats; lionesses, or cougars, more likely. The largest of the three raised its head from its paws and spoke to the others. **Sisters, look, prey. And plenty.**   
  
**How do we know these won't fly over our heads like the other, Naguret?**   
  
"Um, please don't eat us," Lili said hurriedly. "We are part of a great destiny, and we're going to go kill the one that flew over you."   
  
"Lili, what are you doing?" Hermione hissed at her. Lili turned to her in amazement.   
  
"I'm talking to them, what do you mean what am I doing?" She turned back to the lionesses, which had risen, and were looking at her in something like amusement.   
  
**She is descended of the Great Catspeaker, Naguret. Perhaps we should leave her alone.**   
  
**Perhaps, Kerde. But the others are not Catspeakers.**   
  
"What's a Catspeaker?" Lili asked, not liking being left out of this discussion.   
  
**Why, you are a Catspeaker, little one.** The lioness that had been called Naguret showed her teeth. **Your kind is rare, nowadays. Not like those Snakespeakers, who seems to be popping up everywhere. Crude, that kind.**   
  
**Too true, sister,** yawned the third lioness, who had not bothered to rise.   
  
**Yes. We will leave the Catspeaker be, but the others must die.** She rose from her sitting position, but stopped when Lili stepped in front of her friends.   
  
"You can't! They're part of the destiny, too!"   
  
Naguret threw back her tawny head and laughed. **Child, what makes you think I care anything for destiny? It was our destiny, my sisters and I, to wait for the one who carried within him or her the power of the great one, the Mother Earth. But that one has never appeared. And we grow old, waiting for the Earth. Only when the sword is claimed can we finally die, and be at rest. No, if I let your friends live, it will be because you are a Catspeaker, and have the right to ask favors.**   
  
Lili laughed, a bit nervously. "What would you do if I said that I was the one who carried the power of the Earth?"   
  
Naguret looked her over thoughtfully, then looked her in the eyes. **I would say that there is a chance for the darkness to be defeated. Yes, I see within you the spirit of the Earth. But beware. That power is a great, and also terrible thing. Use the power well, as you must use the sword. Sisters, let them pass.** At the words of their sister, the other two lionesses moved to the side, and bowed to the four as they passed. Naguret walked by Lili's side. Before they left, she spoke to Lili one last time.   
  
**When you leave this room, you will come to a fork. Take the left. The right will lead you only to death. Be careful, Earth's Flower. Many will want your power. You must choose your allegiences carefully. Now, fare well. When, and if, you return this way, my sisters and I will have joined the rest of our family in the final rest.**   
  
"Goodbye, Naguret. Thank you for your help."   
  
**Fare well, child. Earth's power is with you.**   
  
Continuing down the passageway, they came to a fork. The right looked cheerful and inviting, well lit, with sunlight streaming through a window at the ceiling. The left looked grim, dark, dank. Unhesitatingly, Lili stepped to the left.   
  
"Lili, where are you going, shouldn't we take the right?" Ron asked.   
  
"Why do you say that?" She asked, puzzled.   
  
"I dunno, it looks more likely..."   
  
"No." She shook her head. "It's left. Naguret told me." She continued down the passageway, and the others shrugged and followed her.   
  
"So, Lili how were you able to talk to those lionesses?" Hermione had caught up to her, and was looking at her friend curiously.   
  
"They said I was descended from someone called the Great Catspeaker, who I guess could... well, speak to cats. Said something about a Snakespeaker, too, and that they were 'popping up everywhere'. I'm guessing that a Snakespeaker is a... what's it called? A Parsley-something-or-other?"   
  
"A Parselmouth," Hermione supplied.   
  
"Yeah, Parselmouth. But they're not common." Lili shrugged and turned the corner. "But I wonder- wooooah!"   
  
Her exclamation of surprise was echoed by the others. They had walked into a huge room, it must have been the size of a city block, with windows carved high into the ceiling. Light from the rising sun filtered in through one of them, illuminating the stone altar that lay in the very center of the room. And the sword that rested on that altar.   
  
Lili was about to move into the room, when Hermione called to her. "Lili, wait! There's something there, carved on the wall next to you. It looks like some kind of runes, give me a moment to figure it out..." As Hermione hurried forward to try to decipher the runes, Lili looked at them, and simply read them.   
  
"All but the Earth Mage beware in this room. The Earth only can lift the sword from the altar, death will come on swift wings to any other." Hermione looked at her in amazement.   
  
"I didn't know you studied ancient runes."   
  
"I don't. They just... I don't know, I understood them. Must come with being the Earth Mage."   
  
"Must."   
  
Lili approached the sword cautiously. The altar was bathed in light on one side, and Lili circled around, specifically so that she could step up to the altar from the lighted side.   
  
"Why are you doing that?" Harry asked her.   
  
"I believe that approaching from the light shows good intentions. If possible, I always stay in the light. I'm showing the spirits in here that I'm not evil."   
  
As she put her hands on the sword, she heard a yell of "look out!" from Harry, behind her. And then she felt a strong hand clamp around her thin wrist, dragging her hands away from the sword, a thin, sharp blade against her throat. And a voice that she recognised instantly.   
  
"Oh, you may not be evil," drawled Draco Malfoy. "But I am."   
  
  
  
  
(A/N) Yay! Dracie's here! Woohoo! Can you tell I like the guy? Yummy... Review! Or I'll borrow a pumpkin from Ady and you'll be covered in orange gook!


	6. The Battle of Earth

DISCLAIMERS: I own absolutely nothing. Well, except Lili. And the plot. And a bunch of other stuff. Oh, just read. And then review. Only the authors know how good reviews feel... like a big bowl of chocolate ice cream... with whipped cream... and cherries! Mmm... cherries....   
  
CHAPTER SIX: THE BATTLE OF EARTH   
  
  
  
"What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron growled.   
  
"Why, following orders, of course, Weasley. And if you have to ask whose orders, you're even dumber than I thought."   
  
Harry pulled out his wand. "I'd let her go, if I were you, Malfoy."   
  
"Well, Potter, obviously you're not me. If you were, you'd be a whole lot better-looking. And don't think you can just curse me and be done. Just because I'm using a Muggle weapon doesn't mean I don't have my wand with me. I simply prefer Muggle ways of killing. They have a tendency to be more painful." He pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at Harry.   
  
While Harry and Malfoy were involved in this little exchange, Hermione noticed Lili's free hand, slowly inching toward the sword still resting on the altar. As Malfoy's attention threatened to turn back to Lili, Hermione desperately spoke up.   
  
"Why? Why do you have to be so cruel? Why are you with You-Know-Who?" It was a stupid thing to say, but it caught Malfoy's attention, buying a little more time for Lili.   
  
"Good question, Mudblood," he said tauntingly. "I suppose it's because I was raised with the Dark, to be a Death Eater; and oh, yes, there's no real reason for me to work with Dumbledore and his little pets."   
  
"There is reason, though!" Hermione's voice rose higher, as Lili's hand grew nearer to the sword. "You could help people! You could save lives! You could make people happy!"   
  
Malfoy laughed, a cold, sneering laugh. "Mudblood, why would I care about making people happy? Saving people? There's no such thing as happiness. But power... ah, yes, there is power. And I'm going to have it. And-"   
  
At this moment, Lili's hand closed around the hilt of the sword, and she spun around, knocking Malfoy's knife out of his hand. The second she was away, Hermione whipped out her wand and shouted "Expelliarmus!" Malfoy's wand went flying out of his hand, and he was thrown back against the altar. Lili pulled the sheath off the sword, and pointed the blade directly at Malfoy's throat.   
  
"Thanks for the help, Hermione," she said casually. "But you were promising him the wrong thing. Listen to me Malfoy. You've seen what Voldemort" Ron flinched at the name, "does to his followers. When they mess up, they get tortured. Friend and foe alike under the Cruciatus Curse. Do you really want that? If you join Voldemort, sooner or later you will be tortured. It's a definite thing. If you join the Light, you have the chance that you will never have to be under that."   
  
Malfoy sneered at her. "Do you think I'm afraid of a little pain? I can take it."   
  
"Fine. Whatever. But that's not the entire point. The point is, if you join us you can get revenge, Malfoy. Revenge. On Voldemort. Admit it, you want it." She moved to Malfoy's other side, her blade still at his throat, and switched topics just as easily.   
  
"You must love your mother. Everybody does, no matter how horrible their mothers are to them, everybody has at least a tiny core of love for their mother. And you know, that at some point, Voldemort has probably put the Cruciatus Curse on your mother. Tortured her. Get revenge for your mother. And your father, too."   
  
"I have no love for my father at all, no matter what you say," he spat.   
  
"That's not what I was going to say. You say you were raised to be Dark, to be a Death Eater. To be raised like that, you have to have undergone pain. To toughen you up?" Although it sounded like a question, it definitely wasn't. Lili moved around him in a circle, her vivid blue eyes never leaving his icy gray ones. "If you join us, you have the opportunity to get revenge for your mother, revenge on your father. And be careful what you answer. This is the kind of thing that will be offered only once."   
  
But Malfoy seemed to have made up his mind. "I'll join you," he said. But Lili shook her head.   
  
"Ah, but it's not quite that simple. We have to know for sure that you mean it. And so here is what I propose: a swordfight. You and me. One on one. If you win, you join us. If I win, I kill you. You do not try to kill me. I will walk out of this alive, no matter who wins. But if I win, you will be dead. And don't count on me not killing you."   
  
Malfoy looked her in the eye and spoke steadily. "That is the worst deal I have heard of in my   
entire life."   
  
Lili shrugged. "I could just kill you now..."   
  
"Fine. I accept," he snarled. "Swordsman's duel." He transfigured a rock on the ground into a sword with a copper pommel.   
  
Lili turned her back to Malfoy and spoke to her sword. "Now, no funny stuff. You are a regular sword, until I tell you otherwise. Got it? Good." She turned back around to find them all giving her strange looks. "Hey, gotta let them know who's boss."   
  
She turned to Malfoy. Hermione stepped forward, she would be judging. She nodded, and the two bowed to each other. And, with a clap of Hermione's hands, the battle began.   
  
Draco Malfoy had been studying fencing since he was able to hold a sword. He had fought many excellent swordsmen, and defeated most of them. But he was having a hard time with simply holding onto his sword while fighting this girl. Her attack was relentless, he had no time to throw any blows of his own. But luck was with him.   
  
She tripped, not quite falling, but throwing herself off balance enough to give him time for an attack. As she steadied herself, he struck. She blocked it, as he knew she would, but now the tide had turned. Now he was the one dealing out all the blows, and she was working to simply block them.   
  
Then, and even Draco himself was not sure how, Lili's sword was knocked out of her hand, and his was pointed at her neck. He had a moment of internal debate; he had been sent to either steal the sword or kill a Mage, if he killed her, he would be doing what he had sworn to do. But, if he let her live, he would have his chance for revenge, the thing he wanted most. He lowered his sword.   
  
"I win," he said, breathing hard. "I get to join you."   
  
  
  
(A/N) Pumpkins! Go review!


	7. A New Companion

DISCLAIMERS: You know the routine. Do I really have to go over this?   
  
  
  
(A/N) During the year between book four and my story, Voldemort has been attacking Muggle-borns, Muggles, and any witch or wizard who caused him problems back in the Seventies. Okey-day?   
  
  
CHAPTER SEVEN: A NEW COMPANION   
  
  
  
Harry had watched, amazed, as Lili's sword went flying out of her hand. One minute, she had been winning, Malfoy hadn't even been able to think about anything other than defense, and the next, her sword was gone. And, alarming him, she had accepted it without question, and simply told Malfoy where their camp was, and to be there in under forty-five minutes. The others were more than a little perturbed with her judgement.   
  
"'Earth is the tie that will bind the others closer to create the light.'" Ron quoted the prophecy mockingly. "Well, at the moment I don't feel very close to you!"   
  
"Why'd you do that?" Harry asked her angrily. "He could have killed you!"   
  
"That was the point." Lili said quietly.   
  
"Yeah, but- wait a minute, what d'you mean, that was the point?"   
  
"It was a test," Lili explained herself. "He had the opportunity to kill me. If he had tried he wouldn't have succeeded anyway, and we would have known he wasn't sincere. He didn't try to kill me, and so we know he meant what he said. We can trust him."   
  
"Trust him? Trust him?" Ron bellowed. "You can't trust a Slytherin, especially not Malfoy! He's- he's-" Ron seemed to be searching for a word nasty enough, but without luck.   
  
Lili sat down in front of the campfire and began polishing the sword. It was a beautiful thing, a slim, silvery blade, etched with runes, broad enough to block something thrown at her, but slender enough that it wasn't bulky. The wooden hilt was inlaid with green jade and gold wire, in a simple, elegant pattern. The grip was bound in white dragon leather, which Lili inspected closely. "The hide of an Indian Ivory dragon. They're extinct, now. Have been for over five hundred years. Supposed to be one of two sentient dragon races. The other one's never been found."   
  
"Stop trying to change the subject!" Ron yelled.   
  
She turned on him. "You listen to me, Ronald Matthew Weasley. I know exactly what I am doing. If this whole thing was in your hands, we'd all be dead by now. Stop trying to run the damn thing, and let me do things my way!" Having finished screaming at him, she stormed off into the woods.   
  
Ron watched her crash through the brush with an angry look on his face. A moment later, he asked, "How did she know my middle name?" Harry and Hermione groaned.   
  
  
  
  
Draco managed to find their camp with five minutes to spare. He could tell already that this was not going to be a pleasant journey. Harry and Ron refused to even look at him, Hermione seemed nervous and did her best to avoid him, and Lili seemed to be in a bad mood, snapping at him. Draco began to question his decision to join them, and remained aloof and distant.   
  
"So, which Temple are we headed for next?" Lili seemed to be working exceptionally hard to get around her bad mood, and was addressing the group in a cheerful, but obviously forced, tone. They were all sitting around the remains of the previous night's campfire, Lili on one side, Harry, Ron and Hermione on the other, and Draco being subtly excluded.   
  
"I think we should head east, picking up Fire, Air, and Water in that order," Hermione suggested. "To get the Water shield now, we'd have to cross the Atlantic, which is not a good idea on broomsticks. If we stuck to the land route, we could pick up a better vehicle in Asia."   
  
"Sounds good to me. Any objections?" When no comment was heard from the three boys (Harry and Ron were glaring at Malfoy), she continued. "Fine. So we're heading for the Fire Temple in Egypt. Ron, you're going to have to direct us. Let's go." Without looking backwards, she climbed onto her broom and flew into the sky. With dubious looks, the others picked up their brooms and scrambled after her.   
  
*************************************************************************************   
  
  
  
"A pity." Voldemort turned away from the crystal ball he had enchanted to show him Draco Malfoy's doings. "A stirring speech that girl gave, and it lost us one of our most promising young Death Eaters. Lucius!" He called out sharply, and a black-hooded man stepped forward from where he had been standing in the corner.   
  
"Yes, my Master?"   
  
"My friend, I have some bad news for you." Voldemort's tone was anything but friendly, and Lucius Malfoy began to shiver. "Your son, Draco, has turned to the Light. You know the punishment for that. Your son will not be allowed to live."   
  
The man almost sighed with relief. He had thought that perhaps he had done something wrong, and was going to be punished. Apparently not.   
  
But then he stiffened again. Draco? His heir? Damn that boy! All Draco's life, Lucius had fed him, clothed him, kept a roof over his head, and this was how the brat repaid him? By turning on his father, and in the meantime, getting one of the most powerful Dark Wizards in the world after his skin? Idiot boy, he deserved to die, but someone needed to carry on the Malfoy name. Too bad Lucius hadn't had any other children, then it wouldn't have mattered so much. But for now, he needed to try to talk his master out of it.   
  
"Are you sure that he is not just pretending? Spying? Attempting to get on their good side?" Lucius volunteered tentatively.   
  
Voldemort rose out of his chair and glared a Lucius, a terrifying thing. "Are you questioning me, Lucius?"   
  
Lucius fell to his knees and attempted to kiss his master's robes. "No! No, my Lord, I was simply hoping- I thought I had trained my son better-"   
  
"Silence." Voldemort sat back down, but not before kicking Lucius in the face. Lucius ignored the pain and blood spewing from his nose, and awaited his orders. "He is not acting. I will not tell you why he has turned, but I will tell you this. You are to be the one to kill him." Voldemort's face betrayed no emotion, assuming the half-human demon wizard even felt emotions anymore. "You are dismissed."   
  
Lucius knew better than to argue. "Yes, my Lord." And again, he fell on his knees and backed out of he room.   
  
******************************************************************************   
  
Draco had been flying at the very back of the group, further back even than Lili, who still turned rather green every time she looked down. But now he pulled ahead a bit, and theu flew side by side.   
  
He spoke. "Who did he kill, that was close to you?"   
  
"What?" She seemed confused, a rare thing for her.   
  
"You-Know-Who." Lili found it amusing that even someone who had been a minion of Voldemort still refused to say his name. "Who did he kill that you knew?"   
  
"Nobody. I just said what I had to to get you on our side," she answered smoothly.   
  
"Bull. You had emotion in there, I could see it. Who?"   
  
"Who are you to tell me what kind of emotion I have? He didn't kill anyone I knew."   
  
"Do I have to put a truth spell on you? You're bullshitting me, and I can tell. You can't con   
a con artist, they say."   
  
She refused to look him in the eye. "Fine. But I swear to every god, goddess, and divine being known to humankind that if you tell anyone this, by the time I'm done with you, the odds of you fathering a child will be zero."   
  
He didn't seem worried in the least by her threat. "Okay. Now tell me."   
  
"All right. The short-and-sweet version." She sighed. "My best friend, Cassa. Her aunt and uncle are, I mean were, British, dont forget I lived in America, and she was visiting them. They were Muggles, and she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was sent word that they used the Cruciatus Curse, among other things, on her, before they killed her. I want revenge on Voldemort, like you, and Harry, and all those other people who were hurt by him. Cassa was like a sister to me."   
  
Thankfully, Draco hadn't flinched at her use of Voldemort's proper name. She had never called him You-Know-Who, because Voldemort wasn't powerful in the United States in the first place, and then when Cassa died, she had become more angry than scared. Anger had always been her substitute for fear, sorrow, and most other emotions. **Emotions are weak,** she reminded herself. **Don't let emotions get in the way of revenge, or duty. Let them inspire you, but don't let them control you. Keep your emotions at bay.** She had repeated this to herself many, many times in the year since Cassa died. She wondered vaguely what her friend would have thought of the change in her personality. Lili had become colder, and much more closed, than she used to be. She was still warm, and caring, and the basic Lili was still there. But her core, her soul, had been changed by Cassa's death. Now, she almost lived for that tiny hope of revenge.   
  
Draco interrupted her confusing soul-searching. "So you're in this for revenge, too, it that it?"   
  
She almost laughed, but not quite. The mere thought of Cassa's death was enough to drown any hint of mirth in her. "No. I'm doing this for everybody. For the people who have died, for the people who are dying, for the people who will die if Voldemort isn't stopped. The revenge bit is just a side benefit."   
  
"I see. Now, will you tell me the rest of what's bothering you?"   
  
This time she did laugh, but it was harsh and cold, a laugh much more befitting a killer than a fifteen year old girl. **You can't con a con artist,** she thought wryly, remembering Draco's words. "Cassa and I, when we first started school, found a spell in the library. SAM had a pretty pathetic library, you know, nothing like Hogwarts. But anyway, we found this spell. Two people who care about each other as much as possible. Husband and wife, parent and child, friend and friend. Doesn't matter what the relationship is. The bond just has to be there. The spell would link these two people together, and they would be linked forever. It would help you to protect your friend, or whoever, when there was danger around, and other things too, but that's what I remember. Cassa and I used it, and for something really silly, too. I can't even remember anymore. But anyway, we used the spell.   
  
"It worked very well, since Cassa and I had known each other even before we were born. Our mothers had met at the doctors office, and as soon as we could leave the hospital, and even before that, we were together. Closer to her than I am to my sister. So, the spell worked, and we forgot about it until last year. That was when Cassa went to visit her aunt and uncle, over spring break.   
  
"I was in my dorm when it happened. An effect of the spell was that right before something happend to Cassa, or right before she needed me, the edges of my vision would turn purple, like I was wearing purple contacts or something. So, I was sitting in my room when it happened. My vision went blurry purple, and then the entire room faded out, and Cassa's aunt's living room faded in. She was sitting in a big plush armchair, reading her favorite book, Little Women. I have no idea why she liked it, I always thought it was boring. She was just sitting there, and the doorbell rang. I remember her calling upstairs, 'it's okay, Aunt Laura, I'll get it,' and then she opened the door, and she was knocked over by a herd of Death Eaters. One of them grabbed her, and pulled her wand out of her pocket, and she started yelling, and her aunt and uncle came downstairs. Then the Death Eaters started torturing them, and I remember Cassa crying, and yelling for them to stop, to leave them alone. And then they did, and then turned on Cassa." Lili wasn't crying, but she looked close to it. Her voice cracked as she continued speaking. "They tortured her for a little while, and then they stopped, just long enough that she saw them kill her aunt and uncle. Oh, god, I remember that the most. Our emotions were linked, I felt what she felt and the other way around. And then they tortured her some more, and they were laughing and joking around the whole time, while Cassa was on the ground, screaming. And then they got tired of it, and then-" she gulped, like she was trying to keep tears inside. "I had to watch my best friend die."   
  
Draco said nothing, and that was really what Lili needed most. Not empty words of comfort, but a simple ear, that would listen, with nothing else. "Thank you," she said, and then pushed her broom forward and flew up ahead.   
  
  
  
  
(A/N) Whoa, I really do not know where that came from. I didn't mean for it to turn into some big thing, but it did. Guess I have my good old muse to blame for that. Doctor Grapefruit Digital Bojangles is back in the muse business! Woooo!! R&R!


	8. The Chapter That Has No Name

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own it yet, but when I finally get around to that hostile takeover of the world, I'll own it all. Yes Mom, I will clean my room first.   
  
CHAPTER EIGHT: THE CHAPTER THAT HAS NO NAME   
  
  
The trip to the Fire Temple was long, and boring. Harry and Ron refused to speak to Draco (which made some problems, as they were forced to share a tent), Hermione was too nervous to speak to Draco, who refused to speak to anyone except Lili. And Lili refused to speak to anyone. So they were all relieved when after a week of broom traveling they finally reached Egypt. Eager to get some drinks, they charged at the first wizard bar they saw. As they ran in, Ron, in the lead, pulled up short, causing the other four to crash into him. They all ended up in a large pile in the doorway.   
  
"Crimeny, Ron, whatd'ya do that for?" Lili moaned, sitting up and rubbing her bruised forehead.   
  
"And whoever has their elbow in my ass, please move it," Draco added. Lili laughed and blushed, and moved her elbow.   
  
But Ron was ignoring all of them. "Quick! Outside!" He grabbed Harry and Hermione and physically dragged them out of the bar, where he collapsed against the wall.   
  
"Shit!" He swore, provoking a scolding from Hermione, which he ignored. "How could I be so dumb?" Draco opened his mouth, but shut it again when Lili gave him the Evil Eye. "That was Bill in there! He works over here in Egypt! He'll see me, and tell Mum, and she'll kill me!"   
  
"What for?" Draco asked skeptically.   
  
"I dunno, but she will, she's a mother, they always find some reason! I am so screwed..."   
  
"No you're not. You simply haven't mastered the art of blackmail." They all turned to Lili, who was smirking. Harry was beginning to suspect that there was a very large devious side to her personality.   
  
"Say what?" Ron finally asked.   
  
"The art of blackmail. See, you two are brothers, therefore you must have something on him that he doesn't want your mom to find out. Tell him that if he tells your mom that we're here, you'll tell her whatever that is. Oh, and if you can get us a place to stay while you're at it, that would be very useful also."   
  
Throughout Lili's advice, Ron had begun to grin. As she talked, that grin grew bigger, and brighter, until it was almost blinding. He nodded, and then, without a word, waltzed into the bar, and, approaching Bill from behind, sat down at the bar stool next to his brother. He tapped Bill on the shoulder.   
  
"Yes, what can I do for you?" Bill turned away from the pretty Egyptian girl he had been chatting with, and stared, amazed, at his sixteen year old brother, suddenly shown up in the middle of Egypt. "Ron? What are you doing here? And why are you wearing Muggle clothes? You should be in school, not Egypt!"   
  
Ron grinned, enjoying his brother's newfound lack of composure. "Should be, but not. Now, if you'd really like to know why not, we can always head to your place, and I'll explain there. And oh, if you tell Mum or Dad, I'll tell Mum about that tattoo you have on your bum."   
  
Bill paled. "You wouldn't."   
  
"Try me. It says 'Mari-'" Ron was cut short as Bill placed a hand firmly over his mouth.   
  
"Fine, fine. Come on, I'll take you back to my apartment, and we can talk. But oh, wait just a minute." He ran back to the Egyptian girl and appeared to be copying down an address. "Okay, let's go." Bill set off down the street at a pace that only Ron, with his long legs, could match. The other four, who were shorter, had to run to keep up, and Bill noticed.   
  
"Who are these people? I mean, I recognise Harry and Hermione, of course, but who's the other girl? And is that a Malfoy? Why are they with you?" Bill looked at Ron suspiciously, and Ron sighed.   
  
"Bill, I'll tell you when we get to your apartment. I don't feel like explaining the whole thing right out in the street." Bill looked less than satisfied with this, but kept walking. He turned into a tiny alleyway, full of garbage cans and dumpsters. A rickety door at the end of the alleyway opened, and Bill waved to the man exiting.   
  
"Hello, Bill. What's up?"   
  
"Oh, nothing, Ashem. This is my brother, Ron, and these are his friends. They're here to talk to me." Bill's voice told them more than his words themselves did, and it was not pleasant. They entered the doorway, and were amazed at what was on the other side of it. It looked like a five-star hotel, huge, with bellboys and even a pool behind glass doors. Bill nodded politely to the doorman, and entered a door marked 12A, with "Bill Weasley" written underneath in gold ink.   
  
Bill's apartment was modest, although Harry knew Bill made quite a bit of money, working for Gringott's. Bill sat down in a scarlet armchair, and gestured towards the striped couch, which the five teenagers sat down on. "Well?" The question had an undertone which said that they had better tell the truth. Ron sighed, and began to explain. When he got to what had happened at the Earth Temple, Bill's face took on a look of amazement.   
  
"You trusted a Malfoy? You? Ron?" Draco smirked, and Ron shot him a death glare, not half as effective as Lili's.   
  
"It wasn't like I had a choice. That girl doesn't take no for an answer." Lili smirked, and her exppression resembled Draco to the point where it made Bill a bit nervous. Harry, however, saw the light-heartedness underneath the smirk, something that wasn't present in Draco's face. Ron continued explaining, and Bill managed to hold in the rest of his amazement until Ron was finished.   
  
"Okay, so what is it you need?"   
  
Lili spoke up. "A place to stay, a guarantee that you won't tell your mom, and help finding a good deal on several flying carpets."   
  
"Why the carpets?" asked Ron.   
  
She shrugged. "Can't stand the damn brooms anymore." She and Bill negotiated for several minutes (Bill flatly refused to house a Malfoy, even if he was semi-reformed and it was only for one or two nights, it took her fifteen minutes to convince him), and finally he agreed to let them stay.   
  
Bill was an excellent host, allowing the two girls to have his bedroom, the only one in the house, while he slept on the floor of the guest room with Harry, Ron, and Draco. After a short but violent squabble between the two Weasleys and Harry, a very disgusted Harry ended up with the sleeping bag next to Draco. But Draco didn't stay in it for too long.   
  
As soon as the other three were asleep, Draco got up and dragged a blanket out into the living room. He tossed and turned on the sofa for a few minutes, trying to fall asleep. Then Lili came in.   
  
She smiled wryly. "You sound like an elephant with a hernia when you snore, you know that?" She sat down on the end of the sofa, and Draco winced as she crushed his feet.   
  
"What would an elephant with a hernia sound like?"   
  
"Like you when you snore." She flashed her innocent grin at him, the same one she had used on McGonagall, forcing him to drop his ideas of hitting her with a pillow.   
  
"Damn, I hate that face. Always wrecks a revenge plot."   
  
"That's why I love it so much." Lili's train of thought drifted off its tracks, running over a farmhouse and slamming itself against a cliff in a spectacular burst of flame. "Hey Draco?"   
  
"Yes?"   
  
"Why do you act different around me? I can tell, around Harry, and Ron, and Hermione, you keep insulting them, and all that, you keep up the 'I'm your enemy, watch it' face, but you act almost normal around me. Almost."   
  
Draco was very blunt about it. "You were the only person who gave me a real chance. Personally." Lili opened her mouth to ask for more explination, but she didn't have to bother, as he continued. "I mean, Dumbledore wanted us to work for the Light, but he was telling us as a group. I never wanted to be part of a group, a reason why I was reluctant to become a Death Eater, aside from that I don't want to become my father. You asked me, as an individual, and gave me a reason. I accepted."   
  
Lili nodded, contemplating what he had said. Then, "Draco, are we friends?"   
  
He looked surprised that she had asked, then nodded. "Yeah, I think we are. Even though you attacked me earlier this year."   
  
She laughed mutedly. "Well, you thoroughly deserved it. And I seem to remember you turning Hermione into a toad."   
  
"I'm not saying I didn't. And I didn't do it to hurt Granger, you know."   
  
She shook her head violently, causing her waves of brown hair to fly all over the place. Draco suddenly noticed the exact shade of it, and thought to himself that the color suited her very nicely. "I'm not even getting into this with you. I'm going back to sleep." Draco had expected her to go back to the bedroom, but instead, she pulled up two chairs, and lay across them, head on one chair, feet on another.   
  
"I let Hermione have the bed, and I can't sleep on the floor, it's too hard. So I'm sleeping in here tonight." Draco made no objection, he simply gave his best bad-boy grin, rolled over, and fell asleep.   
  
  
(A/N) I wasn't sure if I should end it here, but I did. And here's the thing: since I did get a review saying romance would be good, I'll try it. I've never done it before (and actually, I haven't wanted to) but I think I'll try my hand at it. Sorry to disappoint HorseC10, but in my mind, Ron and Hermione are as good as married. I don't think I would be able to write H/Hr, but I might try it in some other fic, but not this one. So this is R/Hr. The only thing left to decide is who gets to be the third wheel. (or fifth wheel, depending on how you see it). And no, I refuse to write slash, don't even go there. So I need you to vote, is it L/H or L/D? It could go either way. And please, if you really do think the romance bit is crap (it probably will be, I'm no good at real romance, my relationships (wow, big words!) always flop. The guys are sweet, but I think I'm commitment-phobic or something. I'm going to have all these girls hating me, I get the few nice guys in existence, and then I turn them down. Damn, I'm an idiot. Okay, ranting time is over for Moon Warrior . Okay, to thank my reviewers, all four (five?) of them: HorseC10 and CatC10, Selena Silvermoon, Jessica, and Corie. If you haven't reviewed: WHAT IN TARNATION ARE YOU WAITING FOR? IT TAKES A LOUSY THIRTY SECONDS, PLUS IF YOU DON'T, YOU MAY END UP READING SOMETHING YOU DON'T LIKE, I LIKE TO WRITE BY WHAT REVIEWERS WANT (on occasion)! SO REVIEW!


	9. The Fire Temple

DISCLAIMERS: Unfortunately, all I own is Lili. But she's pretty cool, though, isn't she?   
  
  
(A/N) Yes, I know I usually put this on the bottom, but so what? I need to mention this now, before you read any further. One: I am writing romance solely because that is what gets reviews, as I have noticed, and because you asked for it, as crappy as it will be. I wrote the word 'cute' in this chapter, and it freaked me out. My friends will never let me live this down when they read it. Why can't you people just write reviews for the action/adventure stuff? Then I wouldn't be forced to write this junk. Two: DRACO IS NOT GOING GOOD! He is still mean and nasty, he just has a soft spot for Lili. Now, have we cleared this up? Good.   
  
  
  
CHAPTER NINE: THE FIRE TEMPLE   
  
  
  
  
Lili rose early the next morning, and unusual thing for her. By the time the others were up, she had already made several failed attempts at scrambled eggs, and was now trying pancakes. Hermione took one look at her (she was putting a frying pan full of pancake batter in the oven) and went to rescue Bill's kitchen. Lili was more than happy to give up trying to cook, and he sat down at the tiny table and began discussing plans with the boys. Well, the Gryffindor boys, at least, Draco was withdrawn and sullen, snapping at anyone who tried to speak to him.   
  
"Okay, here's the deal: Me, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Draco will head for the Fire Temple, and Bill, could you please try to find some carpets for us? We'd appreciate it. Good?"   
  
Bill shook his head. "No, not good. I'm coming with you to the Temple."   
  
"Um, no you're not. No offense, and we're thankful and all, but you're not a Mage. You'd probably get in the way."   
  
Bill ignored Lili's reasoning. "There is not a snowflake's chance in hell that I'm going to let my youngest brother go off on some dangerous mission alone. I'm coming."   
  
Ron stood up and looked at Bill. "Listen to her, she's right. There is nothing you would be able to do if I got in trouble, plus, if we did get in trouble, you might get hurt. I don't want you to get hurt, you don't want me to get hurt. The best chance we have at both of us being safe is if you stay here and go carpet shopping."   
  
Bill refused to budge. "I am coming. Unless you all want to be sleeping in an alleyway. That is, until Mum sends you a Howler, Ron. Screw the tattoo."   
  
Lili sighed, and Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine Bill, you can come," said Lili. "But you have to do what we Mages tell you. We are in charge." Bill looked more than a little upset with the idea of taking orders from four sixteen year olds, but he agreed.   
  
"Breakfast is served!" Hermione floated six steaming plates of pancakes over to the tiny table, and squeezed into the last seat. The seating arrangements were a little akward, Ron and Draco were situated next to each other, and each kept trying to hex the other's food. Lili rolled her eyes and looked at Harry.   
  
"You've been awfully quiet recently. In fact, you haven't said a word since the Earth Temple. What's up?" She tried to catch his eye, and didn't notice when a lock of her hair fell into her syrup.   
  
"The sky," he said shortly.   
  
She rolled her eyes again. "Oh, like I haven't heard that one. Seriously, tell me what's wrong."   
  
Harry gave a halfhearted grin. "I was kinda hoping for one lousy year where I didn't have to worry about Voldemort. Guess that's down the toilet. I shoulda known better."   
  
Lili looked around the table quickly, to see if anyone was watching them. They weren't. Ron and Draco were still trying to curse each other, and Bill and Hermione were involved in conversation about the O.W.L.s. She turned back to Harry, and raised one brown eyebrow.   
  
"And that explains the silence how?"   
  
He shrugged. "I dunno. I guess it's more that Ron and Hermione are together much more, and you seem to be talking to Ma- Draco. That leaves me out pretty effectively." He had said the part about Malfoy with a tiny hint of bitterness in his voice. He hadn't meant it to sound quite like that, and wondered why it had come out that way.   
  
Lili looked a little downcast. "I'm sorry. I never meant to leave you out or anything. It's just that none of you will talk to Draco, so I talk to him. Plus, he understands my morbid side. Most people don't get that part of me. He's my friend, like you are. I didn't mean to leave you out, I'm rambling again aren't I?" Harry nodded with a grin.   
  
"Are you ever going to tell me whatever it is that you told Mal- Draco? I know you told him something, you had this big conversation with him and then you acted really strange for a week."   
  
Lili avoided meeting his gaze. "Maybe sometime. Not now. Later." She stood up and was suddenly all business again. "Okay, let's go. I want to get this out of the way as soon as possible." The others nodded, and Ron closed his eyes, feeling the area around him for the temple.   
  
It took less than a minute before Ron opened his eyes. "Okay. I know where to go." They followed Ron out of the building, and they all boarded their brooms again. Lili winced slightly as they left the ground, and Harry gave her an encouraging look.   
  
Ron flew dreamily, almost as if he was asleep. Occasionally, he would turn sharply and fly in a completely different direction. But the others followed him without comment, and finally they landed in front of one of the smaller pyramids. They didn't see any door, and, after a minute, Draco voiced what they were all thinking.   
  
"Okay, so how the hell do we get in?" The others ignored him. Ron seemed to be moving in a dream. He walked directly to the base of the pyramid, and placed his hand against the stone. As he did so, flames popped up in the shape of a large square around a section of stone. The flames contracted, making the square smaller and smaller, burning away the stone. As the fire pulled itself into nothingness, Harry, Hermione, Lili, Draco and Bill looked at the newly formed door in amazement. Only Ron seemed unsurprised. He simply walked in without waiting for the other five to follow him.   
  
Inside the first room of the Fire Temple was- nothing. The room was empty, except for an ornate door on the other side of the room. An ornate door with an ornate, and very large, lock. On the door were etched runes, looking familiar to the runes scratched into the wall of the Earth Temple, but Lili could not read these. However, it seemed that Ron could.   
  
"The key to the spear is the element itself." He seemed to have shaken off his dreamlike state, and now looked quite normal. "What's that supposed to mean?" The others shrugged, and Draco began cleaning his fingernails with a pocketknife, obviously bored. Lili and Hermione, the practical ones of the group, began to think about it.   
  
"The element itself... Ron, call up some fire and try to burn down the door," Hermione suggested. He nodded.   
  
Ron held his hands out in front of him, and a glowing ball of flame grew out of the air. When it was about the size of a basketball, he threw it at the door. A blinding flash of light appeared, and when they could all see again, it was obvious that it hadn't worked. The door was still whole, and as sturdy looking as ever.   
  
Hermione shrugged. "Oh well. Back to the drawing board. Any ideas, Lili?"   
  
"One," the Earth Mage replied. "I think they're talking about a key as a literal thing. Ron, try to shape the flame into a key, and use it to open the lock." Ron looked a bit skeptical at this, but tried. He called up his ball of flame again, but this time, it was smaller, and, after three tries, he managed to shape it into a key. He held the flame-key by it's handle (Bill looked a little disturbed to see his brother holding a flame with his bare hands), and slipped it into the lock. It fit perfectly, and the door opened. Ron grinned, and Lili looked supremely satisfied.   
  
The others slipped through the door, one after the other. Lili was second to last. Draco was behind her, waiting to get through the tiny opening. She looked back at him, he seemed to be making no move to enter the doorway. She eyed him for a moment, then smirked at him. He smirked in return, and followed her through the door.   
  
"By the way, nice job, Earth. Smart of you to figure it out." She raised one thin eyebrow at him, then opened her mouth to respond, but Ron beat her to it.   
  
"What? Did I hear right? The Almighty Malfoy, compliment a Gryffindor?"   
  
Draco turned to Ron, his face frozen in the mocking smirk that he reserved especially for Ron. "Yeah, Weasley. If you're not sure, maybe you need a hearing aid. They're a muggle thing," he added condescendingly.   
  
"And just how would you know that? You hate muggles, besides, I don't think you have enough brains to spell 'hearing aid,' much less know what one is."   
  
Hermione stepped between the two bickering boys and stamped her foot. "Ron, stop it. Concentrate on getting the spear."   
  
Ron seemed to listen to her, but Draco refused to. "Mind your own business, Mudblood."   
  
At this, Ron would have jumped Draco, but was stopped by both Hermione's form in between him and his opponent, and also by the fact that Lili got to Draco first.   
  
Lili's fist connected with Draco's nose explosively, and he stumbled backward, holding his bleeding nose and staring at the girl he had called his friend in shock. Her oval face was contorted in fury.   
  
"Never," she said coldly, "insult one of my friends. Ever. I don't care if I consider you my friend too. And never, ever, ever use that word. I am a muggle-born, and I swear, if you ever call me that, you will get much, much more than a bloody nose." Hermione put a hand on the taller girl's shoulder, whispering to her quietly. Lili nodded, and waved her wand. The blood flowing out of Draco's nose disappeared, and he lowered his hand, looking at Lili with hatred. Lili acknowledged him with only a fleeting expression of sorrow, then turned her attention to the third barrier (A/N: The door into the temple counted as a barrier). It was a giant wall of flame, burning in the doorway. Lili gestured to Ron, and pointed to the runes scratched next to the flame.   
  
"Is there any way to bring this wall down so we can all get through?"   
  
Ron read off the runes to himslef, and shook his head. "No. It says that the flame stretches through the entire tunnel leading to the spear, though. I'm the only one who can get through." He gave Hermione, next to him, an odd look. Then he moved to the front of the wall of fire. Without another word to anyone, he stepped into the fire, ignoring Bill's yells. The three other boys looked in amazement at the wall of flame for a moment, then a hand emerged from it, shaped into a thumbs-up sign. Bill and Harry smiled in relief, and Draco shrugged. Now there was nothing to do but wait for Ron.   
  
Draco had been sulking in a corner for a few minutes, in the corner furthest from the fire, sitting on the ground in the dark. Lili tried to approach him, to apologize, but he would not listen to a single sentence, interrupting her and telling her to go away. She did, in a huff, sitting down next to Harry and grimacing.   
  
"Bastard. He won't even listen to me."   
  
Harry looked at her in sympathy, noticing how cute she looked when she wrinkled her nose like that. He tried to offer some advice. "Why would you want to be friends with him anyway? You don't know him that well yet, he's a real asshole." Damn. That wasn't how it was supposed to come out.   
  
She laughed lightly, and Draco turned and glared at her. **Damn,** he thought. **She's replaced me as her friend already. And with Potter, too. Hell, why does it matter to me? I don't want to be friends with a Mudblood. She's nice, though, and she's damn pretty... aw, shit. Damn brain. Why do you always have to wreck what I'm supposed to think?**   
  
Lili didn't know what Draco was thinking, and at the moment, she didn't particularly care. "That's what people at my old school always said to my friends about me. This one friend of mine, before she met me, ahe had heard all kinds of horror stories about me. Someone had told her that I picked one kid a day to beat up at lunch, another person said I had put someone in the hospital, someone else said I had been arrested..." She shook her head. "You can't trust what other people say. I've learned that from experience."   
  
Harry looked at her. Her hair was wild from their ride to the Temple. She had forgotten to braid it that morning, like she usually did, and there were many knots in it. Harry had a strange desire to take a lock of her hair and try to work some of those knots out with his fingers. He shook it off, and asked her quietly, "Are you ever going to tell me what you told Malfoy?"   
  
She didn't seem to be in a mood to argue at the moment, and simply nodded listlessly. She explained about Cassa, and her wish for revenge against Voldemort. She didn't look him in the eye until she was done, when she lifted her head and looked straight at him. "Seems silly, huh? I mean, so many people have lost friends and family to Voldemort, hell, you lost your entire family, why do I think I might have the slightest chance at doing anything to hurt ol' Snake-Freak?"   
  
Harry had listened to her story silently, never saying anything. Now he did. "You're not afraid, are you?" He said it more like a statement than a question.   
  
She smiled her strange smile, the cross between a grin and a smirk. "What, is that your normal way to answer a question? With another question? We're not on Jeopardy, you know."   
  
"You didn't answer the question."   
  
She sighed. "I am. I've just grown to hate being weak, and being afraid is the first step to being weak. It's also the first step to the Dark Side of the Force, but we'll stay out of that. I usually replace fear with anger or bad jokes. So, I don't feel scared of him."   
  
He smiled softly. "Then you can hurt him. Voldemort's greatest strength is that people are afraid of him. If you're not afraid of him, he loses a lot of his power."   
  
At that very moment, Ron emerged from the wall of fire, a triumphant look on his face, a spear clutched tightly in his hand. The spear was a work of art, just like the sword that Lili now carried everywhere on her back. The blade was iron, or steel, some kind of hard, serviceable metal. The shaft it was carried on was wood, a dark, hard wood, and Harry wondered how it didn't burn up in the flames. Around the shaft, just under the blade, was set a design, a pattern of rubies and gold wire inlay. Ron proudly displayed his new weapon to his friends, brother, and mortal enemy.   
  
They all admired the spear for a moment or two, and after a moment, Lili said, "Well, all right then, we should go get those carpets now. We can't fly across the Pacific Ocean on broomsticks, you know." Ron rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed that the attention was off his new toy so quickly. But the others nodded, and they walked out the door into the bright sunlight, Draco falling behind the others. He was the last out of the Temple, and the door closed behind him.   
  
  
  
(A/N): Okay, I know that that chapter was boring, you don't have to tell me. But I'm trying to make it L/H, like you guys all asked, but I don't know if it's working. Lili's pretty stubborn, and she will do what she wants, whether it's turning this into a D/L or punching out Draco. And about the romance: I told you people I sucked at it! I'm trying, okay? I suck at this, if anyone wants me to take out the romance, all you have to do is review and tell me, and I will take it out (unless one of my friends forces me to keep it in). Now, to my reviewers:   
  
All of you who voted for L/H (SiriusLover, James Bond, awd fan, and Mayqueen): I'm trying, but Lili's being stubborn about this, and I don't know if it'll work out. Plus I suck at romance, but oh well, you ask, I give! Also, I never said it was gonna be a D/L, they're friends (well, kind of, they will be again when I get up the next chapter, I think), but it could go to being a D/L. I'm trying for H/L, though, since you all asked so nicely!   
  
Rogue15: Lili got the sword for two reasons: one: the sword seems to be the type of weapon that would work best with the Earth Element. Two: Lili is my character, so she feels a bit like me. I like swords, therefore, she gets the sword. If I can't have a sword, then at least Lili can. Plus, Air (Harry) seems to connect more with the bow and arrows than the sword. Originally, I was going to give them all swords, but I changed it. Also, when Harry pulled out Gryffindor's sword, that had absolutley nothing to do with the Elements. It was Gryffindor's, not an Element sword.


	10. The Air Temple

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Nada. Zip. Well, except for my stuffed dog, Barney. And oh yeah, Lili, I own her too. So beat it!   
  
  
(A/N) Okay, screw the romance. I cannot write romance. If there is any romance in here, it is pure accident, or temporary insanity. Live with the action/adventure, people. If you really need romance that much, quit hanging around on the Internet and go get yourself a life. Don't make me write one for you.   
  
  
  
  
CHAPTER TEN: THE AIR TEMPLE   
  
  
  
It hadn't taken long to find a suitable flying carpet. Hermione had mentioned , rather irritatingly, that they were illegal. Lili had simply grinned, and told her "not in Egypt."With a Grin, Hermione had confessed that she hated the brooms almost as much as Lili did, and bought one for herself.   
  
Lili was depressed. She hadn't meant to hit Draco like that, she had just gotten so angry when she heard him call Hermione that... it was his fault to begin with! If he hadn't called Hermione that, she wouldn't have hit him, and they'd still be friends. It wasn't her fault!   
  
But the words of an old teacher rang in her head. *Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nothing's ever your fault, is it, Lili?*   
  
Damn subconscious, she thought furiously. Why d'you always have to shove the blame right back on me?   
  
  
For awhile, Harry had succumbed to his worse nature, and watched rather gleefully as Lili and Malfoy refused to even look at each other. After awhile, though, his conscience got a hold of him. He knew the way Lili was, and knew that she would rather die than compromise her pride by apologizing a second time. So, if Malfoy didn't apologize, their friendship would be worth about as much as Barbie dolls to a seven year old boy.   
  
Aw, damn, Harry thought. How is it that I suddenly get the job of helping my worst enemy find a friend? He turned his broom sharply, just missing Hermione's magic carpet, and flew over to Malfoy, who was sulking in the very back of the group.   
  
Draco was absorbed in his thoughts, and didn't notice until Harry almost collided with his broom. "What the hell do you want, Potter?" He snarled.   
  
Harry refused to let Malfoy get to him. "Listen to me. I hate you, and you hate me. That's all there is to it. But Lili doesn't hate you, and she's sorry about hitting you. She's upset that you refuse to talk to her, and personally, I think you're being even more than a bastard than usual. She tried to apologize to you."   
  
"She also tried to break my nose," he said scornfully. "And I don't recall asking you for your view on the whole thing."   
  
"D'you think I care? All I'm saying is to forgive her. She didn't mean to hit you like that, and she's sorry. Talk to her or don't talk to her, it doesn't matter to me, SHE has other friends." And with that, Harry turned his broom and flew away.   
  
"God damn self-righteous Potter," Draco mumbled. "Always thinking he knows what's best for everybody. I'll forgive her when I'm good and ready, screw Potter." And Lili and Draco flew on opposite sides of the group.   
  
They were all on edge now. They had two of the Divine tools (the spear had a nifty trick of shrinking to fit in its bearer's pocket, making its transportation a great deal easier), and they all knew Voldemort would stop at nothing to keep them from getting the bow and shield. Every time they stopped to set up camp, they would first check the area for a mile around for Death Eaters. And even then, several different types of Barrier, Alarm, and Stunning Charms would adorn the perimeter of their camp. After a week, the stress was beginning to get to them.   
  
Draco was having an especially bad time of it. Harry had been right: Lili was the only thing ensuring his acceptance within the group. Now that they were fighting, the others seemed more than ready to leave him behind, only their sense of honor prevented them from abandoning him, and only the thought of revenge on his father kept Draco from leaving on his own.   
  
The distance between the Fire and Air Temples was, thankfully, rather short. It took them less than a week to travel to the mountain on which the Temple was located. The Temple itself was a good deal smaller than both the Fire and Earth Temples. While the first two had been about the size of apartment complexes, the Air Temple was the size of a three-story Victorian house. The building was unusual, too. It had no walls, and was merely a roof situated on top of marble pillars, allowing the wind to whip through freely. Harry smiled, the Temple felt comforting to him.   
  
They landed gently among the plants outside the Temple, and rolled their brooms up in the carpets before making their way to the pillars that made the walls of the Temple. The five teenagers stepped through the pillars, and instantly, all but Harry grabbed their throats and gasped, struggling for the air that was suddenly deprived of them.   
  
Harry stared at his friends in horror, his mind racing. The Temples themselves were turning out to be more dangerous than the Death Eaters that were undoubtedly following them. Out of pure instinct, he reached out and touched Hermione's neck, concentrating on air, on her breathing normally again. After a moment, the blue tinge to her skin lessened, and she drew a rattling breath as she sank to the ground. He knelt beside her to see if she was all right, but she looked at him with panic filled eyes, and gestured to the others, gasping out "Help them," before she erupted into a fit of coughing.   
  
Harry moved from one of his friends to the next, quickly. Lili had, like Hermione, managed to keep her head. She was standing straight and still, not moving, simply conserving her air, and she was much less blue in the face than Ron or Draco.   
  
Draco had been the last to be healed, and, due to his flailing around, was on the verge of unconsciousness when he began breathing again. He was on the floor, coughing and gasping, the blue tinge to his face not entirely gone. Lili kneeled down next to him, putting one hand on his shoulder, murmuring something softly and comfortingly. After a moment, he began to breathe normally again, and she stood, holding out a hand to help him to his feet.   
  
For one short moment they smiled at each other, each face showing friendship, happiness, and something else that no one could quite name.   
  
Then they remembered they were fighting, and Draco's eyes became hard and cold again, and Lili dropped his hand like it was a hot coal. Draco glared at his former friend, and she glared right back.   
  
Harry shook his head and ignored the two. He concentrated on the wall in front of them, the wall that went around the inside of the entire Temple, creating a large marble box. As he circled it, he noticed something very important: there was no door.   
  
"So we came all this freaking way to get to this freaking Temple and there's no freaking door? This whole thing is a giant load of horse crap, lousy goddamn..." Lili trailed off into quiet obscenities that made Ron look impressed and Hermione wince, although she didn't dare say anything to Lili, not with the mood she was in.   
  
Harry had been inspecting the wall, and now pointed to its only flaw. "There's a hole in the stone, and of course, runes are scratched around it. It says 'Only the body of the Air shall enter here.'" He grinned, and continued. "And for once, I don't need you people to try and figure it out for me. I have to change into a puff of wind and slip through the hole. So, give me a moment to figure out how to do this, and I think I'll be seeing you all later." Harry straightened up to his full height, closed his eyes, and seemed to dissolve. A second later, Lili heard a little Harry-voice inside her head. **Interesting...**   
  
Her mental self laughed. **You have the ability to change into air, and all you can say is 'interesting?'** Harry's mind-self laughed back, and disappeared through the hole in the Temple wall.   
  
Once on the other side of the wall, he changed back into himself. As he tried to mentally speak to Lili, he got no answer. He knew she would never ignore him like that, and he figured the wall must somehow be blocking his telepathy. Well, okay. He was on his own. He'd done it before.   
  
On the other side of the wall, the uneasy silence between Lili and Draco was growing by the second. Ron and Hermione seemed to have made an unspoken agreement not to get involved, and, at the moment, were having a heated argument over the importance of making up homework they missed when they got back (Lili and Draco both silently sided with Ron, if they were saving the world, they shouldn't have to write essays on goblin rebellions and the hundred-and-one uses for strawberry leaves in Cheerfulness potions.)   
  
It was a good fifteen minutes of that uncomfortable silence before Harry reappeared. Naturally, the bow and arrows could not fit through that tiny hole, so it came as a bit of a shock to the others when instead of a puff of wind materializing into Harry, a section of the marble wall suddenly dissolved into dust and blew away. Standing on the other side, smiling, was Harry. Ron came up and patted him on the back. "Good job, mate. Those things are nice, too."   
  
They really were. The bow was a composite longbow, built with an incurve, so that when you unstrung it, it retained its shape. The grip was bound in white dragon leather, much like the hilt on the Earth Sword. The string was an exceptionally long unicorn tail hair, unbreakable. The bow was sturdy, serviceable, and beautiful. But the arrows were really a work of art.   
  
The feathers on the back were straight and fine, a beautiful yellow-gold color. The head was not metal, as is common now, but stone, sharp. Set in the wood around the arrowhead were tiny yellow stones, not shiny, polished gems, like in the Fire Spear, but opaque, matte stones. Around them was set silver wire inlay, traveling down the shaft of the arrows in a pattern matching the one traveling the bow in the same silver wire, only without the stones. They were beautiful. And very obviously deadly. Lili decided she liked them.   
  
Hermione had taken on a businesslike manner, and, after a few moments of admiring the bow and arrows, had demanded they leave. Ron privately speculated that it was "that time of the month," although he had the decency not to say it out loud, and Lili suspected Hermione was simply impatient to find her magical weapon. Whatever the reason, though, Hermione chose not to share it.   
  
Harry didn't want to leave quite yet, though. "Let's camp here for the night," he suggested. "It's almost dark anyway, we might as well just stay here." The others nodded tired agreement, Hermione somewhat grudgingly. But in the end, they spent the night outside the Air Temple before flying off the next morning.   
  
  
(A/N) Okay, I am really sorry about the note at the top of this chapter. I was in a particularly bad mood at the time I wrote it, and I'm just too lazy to go back and delete it. I promised you all that I would put in what you asked for, and you asked for romance, so I am now required to put in romance. Yay. But, there are limitations: one- there will not be a lot of romance, and two- it will be whatever it turns out to be, H/L, D/L, both, or neither. Lili's decided she's going to have some fun in this story, and unfortunately my muse, Dr. Bojangles, agrees with her. So I really have no choice. And I know these chapters are kind of boring and/or pointless, but wait until I get to the ending. believe it or not, the ending is where it gets good, so to speak. This is not one of my best stories.   
  
Okay, now to thank my reviwers:   
  
Tazy Silverpen: Thanks, I'm glad you think the elements they have fit them, I was beginning to wonder about that.   
  
Rogue 15: Sorry if it feels rushed, when I have writers block, I refuse to let it stop me from writing, but still, it doesn't come out so good, and it does feel a little rushed, I know. That's one of the reasons this chapter took so long, I had a lot of writers block lately.   
  
Selena Silvermoon: Thanks for the support, I'm planning to check out your story, but I haven't had the time quite yet.   
  
rachel   
and   
Freda Potter: Had the same thing to say for both of you, so I didn't see any point in writing it seperately. Thanks! I am so glad you all like my story, it's not one of my best, but I'll admit it's a hell of a lot better than some of the other stuff I've written.   
  
****IMPORTANT NEWS****   
  
Okay, I have some bad news for you all. I'm leaving for camp in under a week, and it's a three week session. So this is the last chapter for at least three weeks. You can expect chapters eleven, twelve, or whatever else I manage to write during my time at camp up somewhere around August 11th, the day after I get back. Sorry everybody!   
  
And to steal from Ady, one of the authors on my faves list:   
  
Be excellent to each other!   
-Moon Warrior


	11. Lucky's Lair

DISCLAIMER: I own it all!! Yeah!! I RULE THE WORLD!!!  
  
ANTI-DISCLAIMER: If you believed the disclaimer, you are in need of some serious help.  
  
CLAIMER: I own Lili, and Lucky's Lair. That's it.  
  
(A/N) This chapter is GOING TO HAVE SOME ROMANCE! :::Therapist:: Okay, say your mantra, M.W.  
  
:::Moon Warrior::: I can write romance, I can write romance, I can write romance, I can write romance.....  
  
CHAPTER ELEVEN: LUCKY'S LAIR  
  
It seemed incredible how many ways people could insult each other, Harry mused idly, watching Lili and Draco argue vehemently over which was the best way to get to America. Draco was all for flying over, but Lili found problems with this.  
  
"What the hell do you propose to do about food, water, and bathroom stuff? It'll take a friggin' MONTH to cross the ocean! So, you're just going to drink salt water and crap while flying, like a damn pigeon? Go ahead, I'll see you in the zoo."  
  
"Oh, well, you think you're a goddamn genius, don't you? You've put down all my ideas so far, why don't you try giving out one of your own? Might be a nice change of pace. And there is no goddamn way I am paying for Muggle plane tickets for all of you. If there's no other way, though, I might have to pay for Weasley. Gods know his family couldn't pay for the free peanuts." Draco sneered at Ron. Hermione had wrapped her arm around his neck to keep him from attacking Draco and was whispering soothingly in his ear.  
  
Lili ignored Draco's comment about Ron. "As if I'd do anything where I owed you a favor," she said scathingly. "No, we can use Floo powder to travel to my home in New York, and go to Lake Superior from there. Only problem is, you'd all have to put up with my sister, the Evil One. Once you've shared a house with her, Voldemort will make you laugh."  
  
"And where the hell are we supposed to get Floo powder? I'm sorry, but I forgot to bring it when I was packing up for my life-threatening mission," Draco commented sarcastically.  
  
"Ahem," Hermione said loudly. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Malfoy, but unlike you, I happen to be prepared for anything. I have some Floo powder."  
  
Draco, having no response for this, simply rolled his eyes. Hermione slung her knapsack off her back and began rummaging around in it while Ron conjured up a large fire. It got a little out of control, and Harry ended up with a singe on his robe, but in the end, nothing was damaged (permenantly).  
  
"Okay, so when you step into the fire, shout "Lucky's Lair," and keep your head down, I've got some stuff hanging down over the edge of the fireplace. And be careful not to get soot on the carpet, my Mom'll kill me, and then I'll have to vacuum. Housework. Right up there with teenyboppers."  
  
The other four looked at her skeptically. "Why 'Lucky's Lair?'" Ron voiced what all four were thinking.  
  
Lili, amazingly, turned a bright shade of red. "Well, it's kind of embarrasing, but... well, I haven't really been showing it, but I'm a really hyper person, when I feel like it. One day in my fourth year, I started singing the Lucky Charms song repeatedly to annoy this girl in my Potions class. Lucky Charms is a Muggle cereal," she added to a confused Draco and Ron. "So then Cassa and the rest of my friends started calling me Lucky Charms. It kind of stuck, and there was this one commercial where Lucky the Leprechaun was looking for a place to hide from the freaky kids trying to steal his big bowl o' sugar. I decided that my bedroom was where he was hiding from the little animated freaks, and so I named my room Lucky's Lair."  
  
They all looked at her. "You really like this cereal, don't you?" Hermione remarked.  
  
"Actually, no. I just like the song and the name. Plus I was on a sugar high." She looked around at all of them. "So, are we going or not? Get yer asses moving!" And she threw a handful of Floo in the fire. Draco took a step into the fire, shouting, "Lucky's Lair!" Hermione was next, and then Ron, who barely managed to say it clearly, he was trying not to laugh.  
  
As the green hue of the fire began to fade, Lili looked at Harry in panic. "We have to go together, now, or else we'll be stuck. There's not enough Floo for another trip." Lili set up two charms Harry didn't recognize, and then shouted "Lucky's Lair!" While pulling Harry into the now almost-orange flames. They felt a searing heat for a second, as the Floo powder wore off completely, and then, thankfully, the familiar sensation of moving swiftly through the Floo network. They stepped out into what must have been Lili's room, and Harry felt a pang of dissapointment as she let go of his hand, which she had been holding onto firmly throughout the Floo trip.  
  
She flopped down on the floor, as the bed was already under the weight of Ron and Hermione, and Draco occupied the large spring green inflatable chair. Harry collapsed on top of her as he felt the trip catch up with him.  
  
"I think I left my stomach back in Asia," she moaned. "You think they got a UPS that can deliver it here?"  
  
Draco stood up unsteadily, one hand on his stomach, the other in front of his mouth. "Where's the bathroom?" He managed to choke out.  
  
"Down the hall, first door on the left," Lili mumbled. Draco manuvered his way across the room and raced down the hall. A few seconds later, they all heard the sound of retching.  
  
"Sounds like Malfoy has a weak stomach," Ron commented sickly.  
  
"Eurgh, don't talk," Hermione moaned. "Your head is on my stomach, it's making me sick."  
  
"Weasely's head would make anyone sick," said Draco from his place leaning against the doorjamb. His face was paler than usual, and his voice was ragged. Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron didn't even bother to look at Draco.  
  
Lili shoved Harry off her legs and staggered over to the door. She went across the hall and knocked on a door painted blue. A girl of about thirteen with shining, straight dark hair and the obvious ability for a career in modeling opened it, and the screams of horrible pop music could be heard. Her mouth dropped open, displaying shining, straight white teeth. "Lil!" She gaped.  
  
Lili grinned weakly, and with just a touch of sarcasm. "Hey 'Dain. Go tell Mom she's playing host for a few days, okay? And in the meantime, give me back all my CDs." The girl Lili had called Dain pouted, disappeared behind the door for a moment, then reappeared with a CD book in her hand. Lili took it without a word, and staggered back to her room. The girl slipped out of the door and ran down the steps, pounding like an elephant. "MOM!" She bellowed. "Hey, MOM! Lili's home! I think she and her friends got suspended again!"  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow, the only movement he had made since his arrival at Lucky's Lair. "Again?"  
  
Lili grimaced. "Don't ask. Now, you have had your first sight of the Evil Demon Child, also known as Dana. You have been warned." She collapsed on top of Draco, who was still sprawled in the inflatable chair. Despite their fight, he didn't seem to mind too much. In fact, when she leaned her head against him, he almost had feeling on his face. Harry felt jealousy flare up in him, and caught himself wishing he had sat down in the chair.  
  
At that moment, Dana reared her model-esque head. "Hey, Lili. Better get off Mr. Hottie's lap before Dad comes in and sees you. He'll rip his arms off. Remember what happened to Benny." Draco smirked at being referred to as "Mr. Hottie."  
  
"Get off it, 'Dain." Lili yawned. "Benny got out of the hospital. Eventually. And I wasn't the one who had Benny's tongue examining her tonsils." Dana turned bright red and pulled her head out of the doorway. Lili laughed and threw a Beanie Baby at the door, knocking it closed.  
  
The effects of the Floo travel were wearing off by now, and Harry was able to look up and inspect his surroundings. Lili's room was... unique. It was painted a pale green, and had white trim and latticework nailed to the walls in the corners. Up and down this latticework there was ivy growing. Real ivy. The floor was polished wood, with a green oval carpet in the middle of the room. The chair Lili and Draco were sitting in was almost behind the door, next to several shelves of books, right across from a desk with a computer and many potted plants sitting on it. In fact, there were potted plants just about everywhere. In the corner by the closet, on top of the dresser, on the bed headboard, writhing around the windowsills. Hell, there were plants growing up the sides of the walls.  
  
Lili stood up and walked to the door. After a few moments of rest, her natural, catlike grace had returned to her. She eyed the others, who were just beginning to sit up, holding their heads and stomachs. "Well, come on! You guys have to meet my parents. They don't house anyone they don't know. Not after that time I brought home that hobo for the night." As she walked out the door, the original Musketeers gave each other the Look. Obviously, there was a new, very Weasley twins-ish side of Lili they were just meeting. Draco just smirked. Interesting.  
  
They followed Lili down the stairs and into the kitchen. She sat down at the kitchen table across from a woman who greatly resembled Dana. "Hey Mom. What's up?"  
  
"Nothing much, Liliana. Why are you home?"  
  
"Um, can't really explain that," Lili replied, grimacing at her mother's use of her full name. "But don't worry. I didn't get suspended again. Or expelled," she added as an afterthought. "And I'm not cutting."  
  
"I didn't say you were, dear. Who are these? I'm sorry, but no more hobos, honey."  
  
"Oh, they're not hobos, these are my friends from Hogwarts. Like me, they have a perfectly legitimate reason for being here. We just can't say. Mom, these are Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco. No, I'm not currently dating any of them, so please try to keep Dad from putting my friends in the hospital."  
  
"All right, Liliana. Are you five going to be staying long?"  
  
"Is a few nights okay, Mom?"  
  
"Sure, dear. Hermione can stay in your room, and the boys can have the guest room. Curfew is eleven-thirty."  
  
"Two."  
  
"Midnight."  
  
"One-thirty."  
  
"Twelve-thirty."  
  
"One."  
  
"Deal." Mrs. Grey took a sip of her coffee, and noticed her four guests staring at her relaxed manner. "Oh, I'm sorry, children. My name is Carmen Grey. Please, call me Carmen. My husband is Brian, he should be home in oh, about a half-hour. Make yourselves at home. And oh, lasagna for dinner tonight, Liliana. Boys, when Liliana's father gets home, be polite, and try to make a good impression, okay? We don't want another Benny-type incident."  
  
Harry, Ron and Draco were beginning to be a bit nervous. What exactly had happened to Benny?  
  
"Thanks, Mom. Call me down when Dad gets home, okay?"  
  
"Will do, pumpkin."  
  
The five teenagers trooped upstairs. Dana was waiting for them, leaning against the wall outside of Lili's room. "So, Lili, which one of these three guys are you screwing around with this time? Five bucks says the blonde one. Actually, no. Five bucks on Bed-Head. You always went for the second best, didn't you? Probably because I always got the best." She batted her eyes at Draco, who looked amused. Harry looked disgusted at being declared second-best to Draco. Lili looked infuriated.  
  
"I am not 'screwing around' with anyone! Just because you are a little slut doesn't mean I am!"  
  
Dana was unmoved. "Ooh, harsh one, sis. I'm really hurting. I'm really not a slut. No one dares to go past second base with me anymore. 'Cause of Dad. Pity, really. When you can get it, go ahead, right? Oh, I'm sorry," she said, faking sympathy. "You can't get it. I've still got the looks in this family, and the brains, too. You just get the freak gene."  
  
As Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco looked over the two sisters, they saw that Dana's words had a grain of truth in them. Lili was definitly pretty in her own right. She was tall, slender, with silky hair, and she moved with a catlike grace. But her sister was drop-dead gorgeous.  
  
Dana's hair was a straight, silky black, falling to her mid-back. She was wearing it out at the moment, fine, unmarred, neat and tidy. Her nose could only be described as 'button,' her eyebrows were perfectly tweezed, her cherry-red lipstick contrasted perfectly against her ivory-white skin. Hey eyes were almost black, decorated with sparkling eyeshadow, and her nails were done in neon pink, with little flamingo decals. She was wearing a sequined red halter top and a black miniskirt, with silver platform sandals. It was a definite contrast to Lili's messy braid and beat up camoflauge pants, with the ratty gray tank top on top and the sword strapped to her back. But Lili's comment about Dana being a slut was not too far off the mark.  
  
Lili's face was hard. "Freak gene. Right. Whatever. Go away, try to find some friends who won't stab you in the back." She sauntered into her room, ignoring her sister and pulling the Earth Sword off her back. Her friends followed her. Ron and Hermione resumed their previous positions on the bed, and Harry flopped down in the chair Draco had been sitting in before. Lili sat down heavily on top of him, earning Harry a glare from Draco.  
  
"Oof!" Harry had thought such a thin girl would be a good deal lighter that this.  
  
"Hey," Lili teased. "If you're going to sit in my chair, you have to accept the consequences." Hermione looked at the two as if she was holding back an "aww." Draco rolled his eyes, hiding what was more than a hint of jealousy.  
  
"So, Ron," Lili began. "What does that tattoo on Bill's ass say?"  
  
Ron grinned. "Well, I really shouldn't tell you this, but..."  
  
Draco vaguely heard Ron's answer to Lili's question, and the roar of laughter that followed it. He was studying Lili. And the arm that Harry was gradually slipping around her waist. As Harry's hand settled itself somewhere around Lili's navel, Draco felt a wave of jealousy. He noticed the conversation had slowed down, and took his opportunity.  
  
"Hey, Potter, you know those Chudley Cannons suck, right? I mean, the brooms alone could play better than their riders." Harry had adopted Ron's favorite Quidditch team, and both Ron and Harry immediately stood up, spilling two very annoyed teenage girls on the floor.  
  
"Oh, yeah, and which team do you say is good? Because gods know if Draco Malfoy supports them, they simply must be the best one there is." Harry's tone was mocking, and Draco sneered right back at him.  
  
"I've always favored the Appleby Arrows," Draco said loftily. Harry and Ron's faces turned red. Lili and Hermione looked at each other, and nodded, deciding some quick damage control was in order. Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and spoke softly and calmly to him (this technique seemed to work very well, the redness in Ron's face disappeared almost immediately). Lili stepped in between Harry and Draco, who looked ready to lunge at each other's throats.  
  
"I like the Arrows, myself. The Cannons are awesome, too, though. My two favorite teams. I'd like to see a game of them against each other." Harry and Draco looked at Lili as though she had suddenly grown an extra head. Then Harry laughed. Draco's cold expression lifted into a smirk, and Lili grinned with relief.  
  
Draco stalked across the room and thumped down in the inflatable chair, enjoying Harry's look of rage and jealousy as Lili sat down on his lap. Harry was forced to sit in the desk chair, and watch with outrage as the scene Draco had witnessed played out before him again, except Draco was now the one whose lap Lili was sitting in.  
  
Lili and Hermione were discussing something or other when Carmen's voice drifted up the stairway. "Dana! Liliana! Your father's home! Liliana, bring your friends down with you!"  
  
Lili stood up from Draco's lap and opened the door. Directly outside stood Dana, counting down out loud. "Five... four... three... two... one... now!"  
  
A booming voice echoed from the front hall. "Hey! Where are my little girls? No hello for your father?"  
  
Dana's face took on an innocent expression, and she thumped down the stairs. "Daddy!" She squealed, as her father picked her up and spun her around. Lili behaved with a little more dignity, stepping down the stairs before hugging her father.  
  
Brian Grey was a huge man. The three boys took one look at him and instantly decided that whatever happened to Benny, it was not a good thing. If Lili hadn't told them she was Muggle-born, they might have though he was part giant. He must have been almost seven feet tall, and two feet of pure muscle wide. His hair was the golden-brown color of Lili's, except his was curly, while hers was straight. He had a huge beard. It was an interesting thing to see this huge, muscular, ruddy-complexioned man be greeted by his petite, fair-skinned and dark-haired wife. Her head barely reached the top of his shoulder.  
  
Mr. Grey looked at his oldest daughter, who, at 5'7, was the only one who came anywhere near his height. "Lili! What are you doing home from England? Did you get suspended again?" He asked suspiciously.  
  
"No, Dad, I didn't. The Headmaster sent me and my friends on a little errand, that calls for some business up in the Great Lakes. Perfectly legit."  
  
"All right then. Well, are you going to introduce me to your friends?"  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry, Dad. This is Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco. No, I'm not dating any of them, we're just friends." She added the last part a bit hurriedly after seeing her father's gaze rest suspiciously on each boy in turn. His face lightened.  
  
"Well, that's all right then. Now, boys, you listen to me. If any of you decide to start dating my daughter, you do not push her farther than she wants to go, namely, farther than kissing, and if you hurt her in any way, I will personally break every bone in your body." He said all this in a perfectly cheerful tone. Harry and Draco both gulped and took a step backwards. Ron looked at his best friend as though he was trying very hard not to laugh. Hermione looked with sympathy at Lili, who was holding her head in her hands and moaning.  
  
Harry and Draco were saved from further intimidation, and Lili from further embarrassment, by Carmen's shout of "dinner!" Dana and Mr. Grey stampeded towards the kitchen, and all five teenagers felt very glad they were not standing in the doorway.  
  
As they entered the kitchen, they saw that four more chairs had been added to the large table in the middle of the room. There was a slight scuffle over seating arrangements, until finally Mr. and Mrs. Grey were sitting next to each other, with Dana next to Mrs. Grey. On Dana's other side was Draco, who seemed as though he didn't know whether to be annoyed or pleased that he was sitting between both Grey sisters, as Lili was on his other side. Next to Lili was Harry, and next to Harry was Ron. Hermione had the honor of sitting next to Mr. Grey, who appeared charmed by her talk of Hogwarts castle.  
  
Dinner passed uneventfully. The four guests were amazed at Lili's relationship with her parents, if any of them had shown up suddenly in the middle of the school year, they would have expected much more than a "welcome home" from their families. Not that they were complaining...  
  
When dinner was over, Carmen ushered her four guests upstairs, and immediately began making up the guest room for the boys. It was amazing how Muggles could do things so quickly without magic, thought Ron idly. It took Carmen no less than fifteen minutes to clean the entire room, put new sheets on the bed, vacuum, and pull out and assemble two cots from seemingly nowhere.  
  
There wasn't too much to do for the rest of the evening. Lili taught Ron and Draco how to play Monopoly, but the game ended when all five got into an argument about Lili's "interest-free bank loans" to herself. After this, Lili sent all the boys away, telling them "go on, beat it. Y'all need your beauty sleep, don't deny it."  
  
It was a boring night for the boys. After a short, but furious round of odds and evens, it was decided that Draco got the bed, and Harry and Ron would have to make do with the cots. Ron and Harry whispered back and forth to each other, occasionally throwing glances at Draco, who didn't seem to care. Finally, Harry addressed himself to Draco.  
  
"Hey, Malfoy."  
  
"What do you want, Potter?" Draco asked tiredly.  
  
"We're going to go eavesdrop on the girls. We could use another set of ears," Ron offered.  
  
"Why in hell would you want to eavesdrop on them?"  
  
Ron stared at Draco in amazement. "Don't you know what girls talk about with their friends?"  
  
"Typical girls? Or Earth and Granger?"  
  
Ron looked a bit abashed. "Well, typical girls. Usually talk about their crushes and all. But I dunno about Lili and Hermione." He looked thoughtfull, then added "Oh well, it's worth a shot, right? They have to be average sometime."  
  
"Let's go."  
  
The three boys snuck out of their room and moved, realtively quietly, towards the doorway to Lucky's Lair. From inside, they heard the sound of laughing. They leaned closer to the door to try and hear better.  
  
"What's up?" A quiet, sarcastic voice from behind made them all jump. Ron banged his head on the doorjamb and cursed softly. They turned, and Dana stood behind them, an amused smirk on her face, swinging a purple walkie-talkie around on a perfectly manicured finger.  
  
"Eavesdropping, I see. Well, it will be awfully hard to do that through the door, and even harder if I tell them you're here. I have a deal to offer you. The other one of these walkie-talkies is hidden in Lili's room, I planted it there earlier. I'll give it to you and leave quietly. For a price."  
  
Harry eyed her suspiciously. "And that price is?"  
  
Dana smirked her strange smirk again. "Glad you asked. I want a kiss from Blondie over there. On the mouth. A good one. If I'm not fully satisfied, Lili gets a little news report."  
  
Harry and Ron looked at Draco, who smirked and shrugged. "Fine. I'll blow her pre-teen mind." He took a step forward and kissed Dana, his back to the other two. When he stepped back, her perfect red lipstick was slightly smeared, and she had a dazed look on her eyes. Without a word, she handed them the walkie-talkie and went into her room. Harry turned on the walkie-talkie, and they instantly heard the voices of Lili and Hermione.  
  
"So, basically- wait a minute. Did you hear something?" There was silence for a moment, and Draco was afraid they had been found out. But then the girls resumed their conversation.  
  
"So, which of them d'you think has the best butt?" The three boys almost fell over hearing Lili's voice say this. She was usually practical and serious, it was a bit like seeing Professor McGonagall drunk.  
  
"Oh, I hate to say this, but it's definitely Malfoy," Hermione giggled. Harry and Ron looked at each other in shock, and Draco preened.  
  
"You know, I think you're right. He does have a great ass." Harry hit his head on the doorframe in shock, and Draco turned a bit to see the piece of his anatomy that was being so highly praised. But Lili continued. "But, y'know that time when we were staying at Bill's, and I slept in the living room on the chairs?"  
  
"Yeah?" **Oh no,** thought Draco grimly. **Here it comes.**  
  
"Well, Draco was in there too, and once he fell asleep, he was positively adorable! He was hugging this pillow and calling it 'Bobo.'  
  
Draco winced. Not even his roomates knew about Bobo the teddy bear. Harry and Ron snickered. "Bobo?" Ron laughed.  
  
"Oh, that's so cute! It's a little like Ron," the mentioned boy froze. "I've seen him when he's asleep, sometimes he dreams about Quidditch, and you can see him thrashing around in his bed, and every so often he'll yell, 'we've won!'" Ron winced. "And Harry! One time, he started sleepwalking and he must have tripped over Ron, who was in a sleeping bag on the bedroom floor. He landed right on top of him and didn't even wake up. I was in Ginny's room, and I couldn't sleep, and I heard Ron cursing, so I ran up the stairs to see what was going on. So I get up there and I see Ron tangled up in his sleeping bag, trying to get out, with Harry asleep on top of him." Harry moaned and covered his face with his hands.  
  
"Is there something you're not telling us, Potter?" Draco smirked. His laughing was cut short when he heard Lili began talking again.  
  
"Oh, that's nothing to what I heard about Draco!" The boy in question paled. "Okay, you know those two guys he hangs around with?"  
  
"Crabbe and Goyle?"  
  
"Dumb and Ugly?"  
  
"That's them."  
  
"They're so easily bribed, by the way. Well, they said that he talks in his sleep, and-"  
  
"I don't!" Draco whispered fircely.  
  
"Sshhh!!!" The other two chorused.  
  
"-they said a few nights in a row, they heard him yelling 'Potter! Harry! Oh, Harry!' over and over." Two boys were bright red and pretending to throw up, and one was laughing hysterically.  
  
"That is not true!" Draco almost yelled. The other two clapped hands over his mouth, but the girls didn't seem to hear him.  
  
"Oh, I don't even need to bribe people to get blackmail material on Ron. I'm friends with his only sister."  
  
"Oh, shit, I forgot about that," whispered Ron, going white. "Ginny, dammit! Do family ties mean nothing to you?"  
  
"When compared to gossip material, no." Draco whispered back.  
  
"Well, I doubt you knew this, but Ron collects a certain- garment." What little color was left in Ron's face drained out. Even his hair seemed to be going white.  
  
"Oh no," he croaked. "Ginny- you didn't-"  
  
"Ooh, ooh, tell! What does he collect? Pantyhose? Bras?"  
  
"Not quite. He collects underwear- but not the type used by men." Outside the door, all eyes turned to the tall redhead, who looked like he was doing his best to learn to apparate on the spot.  
  
"You're joking!" Lili shrieked inside. "He collects LINGERIE?"  
  
"I never said that- in so many words." The shrieking sound of laughter could be heard through the door. The sound of embarrassment, if there were such a thing, would have drowned it out entirely.  
  
"Oh, but you wouldn't believe what Harry's favorite song is, either."  
  
"Ha!" Harry sat back on his heels outside the door. "She doesn't know what my favorite song is. Does she?"  
  
"What? What song?" They heard Lili say.  
  
"Apparently, Potter, she does." Draco smirked at the black-haired boy.  
  
"YMCA."  
  
"YMCA?"  
  
"YMCA."  
  
"By the Village People?"  
  
"By the Village People. I caught him dancing around to it once. Arm movements and everything."  
  
"Well, there goes any slight bit of reputation I may have had, ever," Harry muttered. "Thanks, Hermione."  
  
And then all three boys looked up like a bunch of deer in headlights, into the smirking faces of Lili Grey and Hermione Granger.  
  
Lili tossed the other walkie-talkie to Draco. "Here. Tell Dana to get a set that doesn't make noise when it turns on. And your plan would probably have worked a bit better if you didn't sound like a giant herd of wildebeest thumping down the hall. If you ever do this again, I will personally see to it that the chances of any of you fathering children are nonexistent. I will call in my father." The boys paled.  
  
"Hey Lili, what exactly does your father do?" Hermione asked suddenly.  
  
She looked thoughtful. "I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure it has some mob connections. How else could that happen to Benny?" She turned back to the boys. "Now, get yer asses back to your room. And give Dana back her walkie-talkies." She closed the door, and the three defeated boys trooped back to their room and climbed into bed.  
  
They were all silent for awhile, until Ron spoke what was on all their minds.  
  
"D'you think they meant what they said about Malfoy having the best butt?"  
  
(A/N) Okay, just to let you know, Lili's family is an exaggerated version of my own. My mother rarely gets upset about anything. I got two F's on my report card once, and she told me it was okay. My father is slightly like Brian Grey, in the area of guys, anyway. No, the 'Benny Incident' never happened in my house. Dana is based on my sister and how I see her acting in three years. Dana is smarter than my sister, though, blackmail is much to complicated for my sis. Yes, Lucky Charms is my nickname, I thought I'd lend it to Lili. I stole the idea for the eavesdropping scene from another fanfic I read, I forget what it was called. Mine is worse, though. Okay, for the reviewers:  
  
Rogue 15: Thanks for the advice, I'm trying to put a little more romance into the story. How am I doing so far?  
  
Ady: I'm glad I surprised you about Draco, I didn't really expect him to show up in this, besides for the scene when Lili first arrives at Hogwarts and meets the Three Musketeers. Bill's tattoo is pretty funny if you know what it is (which you don't, it's my little secret). If you're asking to borrow my characters for a fic or to draw them, go ahead, but you might want to wait until the end. I can't say any more without giving it away! Now, I need to ask you a favor: I am in desperate need of a beta reader, d'you mind giving me a hand? Give me an email, it's in my profile.  
  
CrystalStarGuardian: Thanks for the compliment and the advice, but I'm almost positive a Mary Sue is simply a new character who is, in the words of Mary Poppins "practically perfect in every way." A new character doesn't have to be a Mary Sue.  
  
herm: More is coming! Thanks for the good wishes.  
  
Freda Potter: What, d'you think I'm going to stop?  
  
Thanks for all the reviews everybody, not that I'm saying I have enough! I'll see you all in three weeks! Peace out everybody, and be excellent to each other!  
  
-Moon Warrior 


	12. The Water Temple

DISCLAIMERS: I own Lili, her family, and the plot. Thats it. I don't even know who owns Harry and the rest, J.K Rowling probably sold the rights, and I just didn't bother to hear about it.   
  
  
  
  
CHAPTER TWELVE: THE WATER TEMPLE   
  
  
  
  
  
The five Hogwartians got an early start the next morning. Lili was eager to get away from Dana, and no one could blame her.   
  
Lili kissed her parents goodbye, hugged her sister, and stepped out the door. Dana smiled cheerfully at her, and Lili smiled back. It was one of the few times when the sisters got along, and Lili felt as if it mean good things for their mission. Smiling, Lili closed the door behind her.   
  
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Dana sat at the table in the center of her room, an ornate gold mirror propped up in front of her. In the mirror were the images of her sister, and her sister's friends. Dana watched them fly across the countryside, her chin in her hands and her black eyes sparkling with a strange look.   
  
"The time will come, dear sister," she murmured. "The time will come."   
  
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Lili and Draco were fighting again. For one who was representing the most stable element, Lili had a suspiciously titchy temper. Draco had made a sarcastic comment about Dana, and she had once again broken his nose. Harry had to wonder about her, for all she insulted Dana herself, she hated others doing it.   
  
Hermione was flying in the lead, a dreamy look on her face. Harry knew it well. Hermione was following the Call that each Elemental Mage got when they were needed, the Call that guided them to their Temple. Hermione was headed straight towards the Water Temple.   
  
She landed on a deserted strip of beach along Lake Superior. As the others landed behind her, she turned and shook her head at them, an irritating look of supremacy on her face.   
  
"You can't come. The Temple is underwater, and since I'm the Water Mage, I can breathe underwater. You can't. You'll have to stay up here." She turned and slipped into the water with out waiting for them to reply. They had a moment to look at her as she began to swim out to the center of the lake. She was incredibly graceful in the water; her strokes were quick and powerful, she moved through the water like a dolphin. They watched her swim until she disappeared under the surface.   
  
Lili pulled out a deck of Muggle cards. "Poker, anyone?"   
  
***********************   
  
One hour and forty minutes later, Lili had just managed to win her seventh hand in a row, and her winnings were now up to thirty-five galleons, 23 knuts. Ron threw his cards down.   
  
"Screw it, I give up. I don't have any more money."   
  
Lili grinned at him and gave him a portion of her winnings. "Here. Now you're required to keep playing. Make your bet."   
  
"Hmmm... I don't want to bet it all at once... two galleons."   
  
"I see you two galleons and raise you four sickles." Harry slid four sickles to the center of the group.   
  
At just that moment, Hermione emerged from the lake, sopping wet and holding a shining silver shield. She shook her hair out in a manner reminiscent of a dog, and Ron jumped up and offered her his cloak.   
  
"Thanks," she sniffled, wringing water out of her jeans. "The water itself is wonderful, but once I get out, it's freezing. But I got the shield!" She held it out proudly.   
  
The shield was just as gorgeous as the other three Tools had been. It was silver, and polished until simply looking at it made your eyes hurt. It had a complicated design painted on it in blue, silver, green, and gold, involving a lot of triangles. Around the edges was a design of sapphires and gold wire inlay. The straps to hold it to it's bearer's arm were white dragon leather. Hermione looked at it like it was her baby.   
  
The others oohed and ahhed as they had done over the other weapons. Once Lili felt the admiration was adequate, she hushed them all. "Okay, we now have all the tools. So, d'you want to try to make that 'Light' that is supposed to defeat Voldemort?" she asked exictedly. Hermione looked disgruntled at this, but the other three mages looked at each other and nodded.   
  
Lili felt again that strange instinct, the one that had led her to the Earth Temple, and the one that had guided her past the barriers. She drew the Earth Sword and held the blade straight out in front of her.   
  
"Power of the mighty Earth, Mother of Life, She who supports us, feeds us, homes us. The Earth Power joins Air, Fire, and Water now to create the cleansing Light." Lili said this, but could not help feeling that there was something missing.   
  
Harry held the Air Bow and a single arrow to touch Lili's blade. "Power of the mighty Air, Element invisible and strong, He who strengthens our hearts and destroys all unnatural. The Air Power joins Earth, Fire, and Water now to create the cleansing Light."   
  
Ron held the Fire Spear to meet the other two Tools. "Power of the mighty Fire, strong and virtuous, He who warms us, and gives us Light. The Power of Fire joins Earth, Air, and Water now to create the cleansing Light."   
  
Hermione looked at the circle formed by her three friends, and immediately joined them, holding the Water Shield to meet the spear, bow, and sword. A drop of water from her hair dripped onto Harry's shoulder. "Power of the mighty Water, flowing, Mother of Change, She who gives us drink. The Power of Water joins Earth, Air, and Fire now to create the cleansing Light."   
  
And together, they called out. "So mote it be!"   
  
Nothing happened. The four Mages lowered their weapons slowly, looking at each other with faces full of horror, disappointment, sorrow, and other emotions Draco couldn't name. He looked at them in confusion as Lili sat down heavily on a rock.   
  
"What? What happened?"   
  
"Nothing," she answered hoarsely. "That's the point. It's didn't work." She looked up at him, her eyes full of anger and sorrow. Suddenly, she pounded a fist on the rock. "Gods damn it! It didn't frigging work! Why the hell didn't it work?" She buried her face in her hands, and all the grass surrounding the rock she was sitting on wilted.   
  
Lili was probably taking it the worst out of all the Mages. Hermione was crying into her hands, Harry was staring into space. Ron was looking at the spear as though it were something vile. Draco looked from one to the other. If the Mages all had nervous breakdowns... well, it wouldn't be good.   
  
"Hey, come on," he said desperately. "If at first you don't suceed, try, try again. Right?"   
  
Ron looked at him with contempt, and Lili laughed scornfully. Harry and Hermione didn't even look up.   
  
It felt like hours later, although it was really only about twenty minutes, when Harry shook out of his stupor and took charge. "Right, people, we have to get back to the Grey house," he said blandly. "Let's go."   
  
No one moved. Harry got up and shoved at the others, one by one. Hermione dragged herself slowly to her feet, and Ron glared at his best friend. Lili swung a fist at his knees, and Harry jumped backwards. Shaking his head, Draco stunned her.   
  
Ron boarded his broom like a zombie, and, within seconds of his takeoff, crashed into a tree. Fortunately, this had the effect of waking him up a bit. Lili, however, was in no condition to fly. It was decided that Ron, Lili, and Hermione would share a carpet, Ron piloting, and Hermione and the unconcious Lili as passengers.   
  
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When they got back to the Grey household, both Carmen and Mr. Grey raced towards their eldest daughter and her friends, checking all five for injuries. Dana stood in the background, leaning against the steps, a well-placed smirk on her dainty face. Draco, glancing at her, saw a flash of something in her black eyes, so quick he didn't know for sure what it was. But he was pretty sure he didn't like it.   
  
"We're fine, Mom," Lili said tiredly. Ron had woken her up about ten minutes before they landed, and Hermione had been stuck with the unenviable task of explaining why she had been stunned before she attacked someone. "Hermione just stressed out a little, we're not hurt."   
  
"Liliana, are you sure? Hermione's soaked."   
  
"She fell in the lake we visited. It was shallow, though. Three feet, about. She just got wet, didn't almost drown, didn't hit her head. We're just tired, Mom. I'm going to go take a nap." Lili staggered up the stairs. The others followed her past her worried parents, the boys eyeing Brian Grey nervously. Draco was at the rear.   
  
As he passed Dana, he turned and looked at her. Her black eyes looked back at him mischeviously, but he could sense something, lying just underneath. But he couldn't tell just what it was. She winked at him and strutted up the stairs, swaying her hips. He shook his head, and followed her.   
  
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The Mages and Draco woke up the next morning with their energy replenished, feeling ready to face the world. After a hearty breakfast of pankcakes, sausages, eggs, hash browns, and anything else Carmen could persuade them to fit down their throats, Lili suggested they go hiking in the woods.   
  
"There's a forest around here?" Draco asked dubiously.   
  
"Sure. They guy who owned this house way back in eighteen-something was a major nature enthusuast. He bought a whole bunch of woodland to go with it, so we own a plenty of acres of woodland. Come on, I know the trails around there better than I know myself. We won't get lost."   
  
The others agreed eagerly (although not without a few snide comments about how well Lili knew herself), but Draco couldn't help but feel as though something was about to go very, very wrong.   
  
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Lili danced along the trail as the others stumbled and groaned about rocks in their sneakers. Lili laughed.   
  
"Come on, slowpokes. You can't handle a little three-mile hike? You'll never get to the lake."   
  
"Where's the lake?" Ron puffed.   
  
"About an hour away." The others groaned, but Lili ignored them. "But it's worth it. The only thing I have ever seen in my life that words could not describe. Crystal-clear water, a waterfall on the far side, flowers overgrowing this side. It's the most beautiful thing you will ever see in your life, trust me."   
  
It took them an hour and a half to reach the lake. But, in the end, they all agreed it was more than worth it. It was everything Lili had described to them, and more. No words could be written that would describe it adequately. It was nature in all her glory.   
  
"Hey, wait a minute, okay you guys? I'm going back into that section of the trail for a moment." She waved absently to a part of the trail they had just hiked. "I think I saw some of those flowers Mom likes, she asked me to pick some for her if I ever saw them again." The others nodded tiredly. Ron and Hermione were soaking their feet in the water, and Harry and Draco had taken off their sneakers and were playing a two-person game of Chicken in the water, doing their best to dunk each other. Lili trekked back under the cover of the trees.   
  
Draco had just shoved Harry underwater when they heard it. A scream, high pitched and feminine. Not the type of thing one would expect from Lili, but somehow, they all knew it was her. Draco instantly let go of Harry's shoulders, and they all jumped up and ran towards the sound. What they saw shocked them like an electrical charge.   
  
Lili was surrounded by a group of Death Eaters, who were snarling and trying to pull her down from the tree she had climbed into to escape. She saw her friends, and screamed at them.   
  
"Run! Run, gods dammit, get away! I don't have my wand!" Draco noticed a single Death Eater holding two wands, one of which he recognised as belonging to Lili.   
  
The Death Eaters spun around. "Potter!" one snarled.   
  
"And Young Malfoy," another added, in an oily voice. Then, to his companions, "There they both are. Get them, and let's go." Harry drew his wand, refusing to go down without a fight. But then the Death Eater truned, pointing his wand at Lili.   
  
"Accio!" he shouted, and Lili came flying out of the tree, a few leaves clutched in her hand. "Stupefy!" Lili went limp. Draco shouted and took a step forward, and a second later, he was Stunned and hs body in the hands of a Death Eater. And before Harry, Ron, or Hermione could make a move, they were gone, Apparated away.   
  
Death Eaters had kidnapped Lili and Draco.   
  
  
  
  
(A/N): Oooh, I'm evil, aren't I? To leave it at this for a whole three weeks... you are all going to hate me for this. As a matter of fact, I hate me for this too. But whatcha gonna do, huh? When the Muse says write, I write. That's how it works. Blame Dr. Bojangles. Okay, since I'm posting both Chapters 11 and 12 on the same day (you people are lucky!), I have only recieved one review for Chapter 11. My thanks to Rogue 15. Lili isn't sure who she wants, but whoever she picks, the other one still has a chance. Lili likes to keep all her options going. And thanks for the compliment!   
So you have to wait three weeks for Chapter 13 (unless my muse strikes and I manage to write Chapter 13 tomorrow, probably not, I need to pack). In the meantime, write lots of reviews! Lots and lots of reviews! I'm getting near the end, and it's picking up a bit, I want to know what you think. SO WRITE THE FREAKING REVIEWS!!! GIVE ME SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO WHEN I COME BACK FROM CAMP, GOSH DARN IT!! Ahem... sorry there... Decaf, MW, decaf...   
  
In the words of the Greats, Bill, Ted, and Ady:   
Be excellent to each other!   
-Moon Warrior


	13. Voldemort

DISCLAIMERS: I own nothing except that half-melted Snickers bar in my pocket. So don't sue me.   
  
  
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: VOLDEMORT'S PROPOSAL (No, not of marriage! Ew!)   
  
  
Lili woke up with a pounding headache to the noise of little feet scurrying around the room. Without thinking, she called out, "Dana, get the hell away from my CDs, go buy your own, you little cheapskate." Then she realized something. Her bed at home wasn't a four-poster with green velvet hangings. And it was an unusual thing to wake up to your little sister after being knocked out by Death Eaters.   
  
The whole thing came rushing back to her, and she winced as the memories flooded her already aching head. She saw what had happened clearly, as though she was outside her body, simply watching what had happened. She groaned as she remembered how she had panicked, and rolled over and pounded her fist on the mattress. How could she have been so dumb? Of all the days to start taking her sister's advice, this had to be it, didn't it. **You should probably leave the sword here,** she mimicked Dana in her mind. **It'll be too heavy to drag through the woods.** She pounded her fist against the headboard of the bed, and immediately regretted it. She let out a scream of pure frustration.   
  
But she had forgotten about the tiny footsteps that had woken her up. At her yell, a tiny face with eyes almost as big as Lili's own poked itself through the bedcurtains.   
  
"Oh! Miss is awake! Mitty is sorry if she woke Miss up, Mitty tried to be quiet, Mitty is not a very good house-elf." The head hung itself in shame. But a second later, the creature that called itself Mitty perked up. "But it is time for Miss to get up, anyway, Master wants to see Miss! Mitty will get out a nice robe for Miss to wear." Mitty scurried away, and Lili took the chance to get a good look at the room she was in.   
  
It was a cold stone dungeon-type room, with no windows, the only light coming from the torches on the wall. The room was furnished sparsely, but what was there was luxurious, all in mahogany and green velvet. The bed she was in was intricately carved, like the trunk at its foot and the wardrobe next to it. The only other furniture in the room was a green armchair in front of the fireplace and a table with two chairs. Upon closer inspection, Lili saw that there was a breakfast sitting on the table. As she moved to get out of the bed, she realized that all she was wearing was her underwear.   
  
"Hey, what gives? Where the hell are my clothes?" She asked angrily. Mitty, who had been in the wardrobe up to her waist, pulled herself out and curtsied to Lili, tugging at the hem of the pillowcase she wore.   
  
"Mitty is sorry, Miss. Mitty was told to take Miss' clothes and get rid of them." Lili was less than pleased, but Mitty continued. "Until Mitty finds a suitable robe for Miss, Miss can wear the dressing gown on the chair." A silk cream-colored bathrobe was on a chair. Lili quickly put it on as Mitty rummaged around in the wardrobe, finally emerging with a purple velvet robe. She barely waited for Lili to finish eating before pouncing on her.   
  
"Mitty must make Miss look pretty, Miss is going to meet Master, Miss must look perfect," She cried as she pulled the robe over Lili's head and pulled the gold cord sash tight. The cut of the robe was elegant, and it looked much more like a medieval dress than a robe, with the royal purple velvet and gold trim. It had a square collar and a loose bodice, with a full skirt falling beneath. It made Lili feel distinctly uncomfortable, but the trim brought out the gold color that weeks in the sun had bleached her hair to. She looked in the mirror over the vanity in the corner and felt thoroughly nauseated.   
  
Mitty took less than another three seconds to sit Lili down at the vanity and begin grooming rituals which Lili had often seen Dana do, usually with a large amount of disgust. "Miss' hair!" Mitty cried in frustration. "Has Miss been having it cut with scissors or an axe?"   
  
"Hey, I like my hair!" Lili cried in protest as Mitty pulled out a pair of scissors and began work. The two fought over it for about fifteen minutes, until Mitty threatened to cut off an ear. Apparently a house-elf's sense of respects towards humans did not extend to out-of-line houseguests. As soon as she was done, Mitty picked up a small silver bell and shook it. It emitted a light tinkling sound, like a little girl's laughter.   
  
Instantly, there was a knock at the door. Mitty scurried to open it, bowing low as she did so. A dark hooded figure swept in, ignoring the tiny house-elf. "Well?" said the Death Eater in a deep voice. "Is the girl ready?"   
  
"Yes, sir, yes, Miss is ready!" The house-elf pushed Lili forward, and the girl glared at her.   
  
"Good. Come then, girl." Lili's glare, one that had been known to make teenage boys cower in fear and run for their very lives, turned on the Death Eater. He ignored it, and swept out of the room. Briefly, Lili weighed the option of not following him, then decided it wasn't worth the trouble it would cause. She followed him.   
  
The Death Eater led her down several flights of stairs and a few hallways before stopping at a set of plain wooden doors, a little on the large side, but overall, normal. "Master," the Death Eater called. "The girl is here." And he backed away from the door.   
  
"Excellent." The new voice sent chills down Lili's spine. She had imagined a great evil, something cruel, evil, something that you conquered, and then stood over it's body with one hand raised in the air in a heroic pose. **I've been watching too many Star Wars movies, ** she thought blandly. This voice was cold, and cruel, but not what she had imagined. It was indifferent, calculating. It did whatever it wanted, for whatever it wanted. It scared her. "Send her in."   
  
The Death Eater complied readily, opening the doors and ushering Lili in. As he closed the door, her mind went blank. She didn't notice the staircase, or the many pairs of eyes glaring from the ceiling somewhere above her. All the knew about was the screaming terror yammering at her to get out, to run away as fast as she could. But she went forward.   
  
**Stupid of me,** she thought blankly as she reached the last turn in the staircase. **Idiotic, really, to think that I could do something. I thought being in Gryffindor meant something, that it proved that I was special. Idiot. I'm just one more nobody, another meaningless name on his casualties list. But hell, I'm going out like a Gryffindor. Just you watch!** She closed her eyes for a moment, lifted her head, and stepped out into the room.   
  
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"Ah, Miss Liliana Grey," Voldemort smiled mirthlessly, and Lili felt a strange emptiness wash over her. Her terror, her anger, her hate, all evaporated, leaving her only with what was here and now, to be dealt with. She felt almost as if she was outside her body, but didn't bother to try to bring herself back in. She nodded politely, never taking her eyes off him. "What a pleasure to meet you at last. The Little Earth Mage," he added. The part of Lili's mind that was still her sarcastic self began singing "Under the Sea."   
  
"I am sorry to have to meet with you under these conditions," he said, his tone courteous, "but I knew you would not come visit if I invited you." He leaned back in his armchair, long fingers playing idly with his wand. "Please, have a seat. I brought you here merely to talk." Warily, Lili sat in the only other empty chair, and saw two Death Eaters move to either side of their master.   
  
Voldemort continued speaking. "I will be blunt. I have seen your talents in action, Liliana. You have the potential to be a powerful witch, almost as powerful as myself." He smiled, and Lili shivered. "Your talents would have been wasted under that fool Dumbledore. You have the makings of a Slytherin, if we can rid you of that Gryffindor ignorance and openness. We are even willing to overlook your Mudblood heritage. If you will join us." He didn't seem to notice the way Lili went rigid in her chair, and the way her blue eyes widened as he continued speaking. "I am even willing to give you almost equality to myself. As I am the Lord, you would be the Lady, answerable only to me." He paused for a moment. "I do not expect you to make up your mind directly. I give you three days in which to make your choice. No more. In the meantime, you will be treated as if your answer had been yes. The servants and Death Eaters will treat you as their mistress. However, these things will be forbidden to you. One, you will not be allowed a wand until I am certain of your allegiance. Two, you may not leave this fortress. In other words, you do not go outside. Three, you shall go nowhere unaccompanied, other than your rooms. I will not be disturbed for any reason during these three days. Unless I have specifically denied it, Liliana's word is law." This last part was directed at the Death Eaters, who looked at one another nervously. Then Voldemort turned to Lili. "And you, my dear. How do you feel about this?" He smile was benevolent, but there was an undercurrent of cruelty that made Lili's insides twist.   
  
Lili thought carefully for a moment before she answered. "I feel that this is a choice to be carefully considered." And she said nothing else.   
  
He laughed mirthlessly. "Wise words, Liliana. You have three days." And he rose from his chair and left, pausing for one moment to whisper in her ear. "Best of luck- my Lady." Lili did not move as he swept away.   
  
  
  
  
(A/N) Woah! Sorry for the long delay everybody! When I got back from camp, ff.n was down and I couldn't upload anything (major bummer ^_~). But thanks for your patience everyone! Now, on to the thanks section:   
  
Ady- I KNOW I should have sent this to you first, but I couldn't wait to put it up (and I'm sure all you readers couldn't wait for it to be up [look at me, Miss Modesty]). And, I repeat, as far as I know, Dana had nothing to do with the kidnapping thing. Of course, Dana keeps a lot of secrets from me, too (she says I remind her too much of her sister, she doesn't like me too much).   
  
Freda Potter- Call me M.W., I've decided Moon Warrior is just too long. You can write great reviews when you want to! And I'm glad you liked the gossip thing, I'm usually not all that great with humor. But just for you, I think I may go back and rewrite that scene, you know, embellish, add on (good ol' Dr. Bojangles just inspired me anyway). And there is more romance- subtle romance, because it's Lili, and romance is about the only thing Lili does that isn't glaringly obvious- coming up. Keep it up with the long reviews, they're my food, and you write good ones!   
  
Berkely Halperin- I understand perfectly. Here ya go!   
  
Alistan Black- Thanks!   
  
Rogue15- I'm sorry, but Draco and Dana? What have you been drinking! Draco views her with a cross between suspicion, amusement, and something else (no, it's not lust, all you people reading this get your mind out of the gutter!). And there IS more romance, subtle, like always.   
  
herm- Thanks, and enjoy!   
  
Chrosnia chronotiger86- Thanks for the compliments and advice.   
  
Me- Thanks!   
  
  
EVERYONE: The next chapter should be up soon, I just have to type it up, and I hate copying, so this is real work for me. Be grateful! Love ya lots!   
  
-M.W.


	14. Pick Your Own Damn Title, You Lazy Bums

DISCLAIMERS: Do I have to go into this? I'm warning you, it won't be pretty. You sure? Okay.... I do not own (takes a deep breath) HarryHermioneRonDracoVoldemortDumbledoreMcGonagalloranyoneelseIforgottomentionIdoownLiliDanaCarmenGreyBrianGreyandtheplotIdon'townalotdoI? (gasps for air). There. Don't make me do it again!   
  
  
  
  
  
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: PICK YOUR OWN DAMN TITLE, YOU LAZY BUMS   
  
  
  
As soon as he was gone, the Death Eaters turned to Lili. "What do you wish, my Lady?" one asked, bowing to her. She had no trouble answering this.   
  
"When you brought me here, you also brought someone else. Who was it?" she asked imperiously, holding her head high.   
  
"Draco Malfoy, my Lady," he answered in the oily voice she recognized from the forest.   
  
"Take me to him. Now." She slid just a touch of venom into her voice.   
  
"Yes, my Lady."   
  
As she followed the Death Eater, Lili wondered just how many twisty passages there were in this building. More than enough to get lost in, she decided, and felt that having a guide at all times was not such a bad idea. The Death Eater led her down darker and damper passageways, and she had a pretty good idea that they were in the dungeons. **No, really?** thought her more sarcastic side. **Shut it, Daria,** she thought back. (A/N: For those of you who don't know, Daria is the main character on a MTV show of the same name. Daria is an intellegent, morbid little bitch who has a fashion plate-popular little sister, and deals with her in the only way she can: incredible doses of sarcasm. She's very similar to Lili. My friends also say I'm the living personification of Daria.)   
  
After a few minutes, the Death Eater stopped at a door. "This is the prisoner's cell, my Lady."   
  
"Good. I will go in alone. You wait by the door, and you will not be disobeying your master's orders. If you follow, you will be disobeying mine." She inserted as much venom as she could into this last word, and was pleased to see a slight shiver travel down the Death Eater's back.   
  
"Yes, my Lady," he said, and opened the door.   
  
Lili stepped in, and felt the air change. In the corridor it had not been exactly a pleasant atmosphere, but in here it was positively nasty. Not to mention dark. She ran her hand along the slimy wall, and felt a torch bracket. Praying, she reached into her pocket, and was overjoyed to find that they had moved all the things in the pockets of her old clothes into the pockets of her robes. She pulled out her magical pocketknife, a gift from Cassa on her fifteenth birthday, and opened up the lighter. The torch flared into life, and she placed it back against the wall.   
  
She let her eyes move over the room, and in a corner, she saw what she was looking for. A pile of what looked like rags. But she doubted Voldemort would go to the trouble of using camouflage print rags. She stepped forward and shook Draco's shoulder.   
  
He opened his silver-gray eyes, and for a moment, looked past her. Then he grabbed her arm and sat up, looking at her anxiously. "Lili! Are you all right? What happened?" His eyes darted around, and she put a hand to his face to calm him down.   
  
"Sh, it's okay. I'm fine. What about you? What did they do to you!" she asked, horrified at the large purple bruise spreading from underneath his eye down to his chin.   
  
"Oh, they didn't do that." Something about the way he said it disturbed Lili, but she left it alone. "I fell down in the dark. Hit my face on the floor. Stone isn't exactly soft." He grinned cockily up at her, and she felt like forgetting where they were and the trouble they were in, and just laughing out loud. Just for the hell of it.   
  
"Let me see that bruise," was what she said instead. He tilted his face up to her, and she placed cool fingers against the darkest spots. As he watched interestedly, she closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate. After a moment, he felt something flow through her fingers into his skin, it was cool, and warm at the same time. He closed his eyes and let the strange sensation wash over his skin. When he opened his eyes, Lili sat back on her heels, and looked at him like he was an accomplishment of hers. "Better," was all she said.   
  
"What did you do?" he asked, as he reached up a hand to touch his cheek. The bruise was gone.   
  
"A healing thing," she replied. "One of the easiest types of magic, wandless or no. Even some muggles do it, although it's not quite as effective. It's always been easy for me. Probably because I'm the Earth Mage," she added a bit bitterly. She changed the subject quickly. "You won't belive why I'm here," she grinned, and explained their entire situation to him.   
  
"He wants your power," Draco said slowly, feeling suspicion harden into certainty. "A mage is much more powerful than any ordinary witch or wizard. Probably stonger than You-Know-Who-"   
  
"Just say the name, that's so irritating," Lili said exasperatedly.   
  
"All right, Voldemort-I've gotten used to calling him You-Know-Who in public- wants your power. Potter, Weasley, and Granger would never turn. He knows that. They're too good-hearted. But you're not as goody-two shoes as they are. Don't say anything, you know they're like that." Lili closed her mouth a bit ashamedly. "You could have been a Slytherin just as easily as a Gryffindor. You probably should have been a Slytherin,"   
  
"The hat did want to put me there," she mused, interrupting him. "But then it said I had too much of a wild streak."   
  
"Yes, well," he said exasperatedly. "If you'll let me finish?"   
  
"Sorry," she said sheepishly.   
  
"Voldemort doesn't know you. He doesn't know what you're like, if you will or will not turn. You're fresh meat, so to speak. He wants you as an ally. What, you think every new recruit get offered the equal power deal? He wanted to make it so good you couldn't pass it up. Of course, if you turn him down, he'll kill you. The prophecy won't work with only three Mages," he reminded her.   
  
"True. So I have to play along, don't I?" He nodded, and she continued. "For now, anyway. So until we figure out where we are and how to get away, I'm Lady Sarrassi."   
  
"Sarrassi?"   
  
"Sounds cool, don't you think?" He rolled his eyes as she stood up and dusted off the purple robes. They now had two large streaks of yellow dust where she had been kneeling on them. "Well, anyway, I'm going to tell them to put you in a room. This place can't be good for your health." She winked at him.   
  
He ignored the problems this would create. Right now, he'd sell his sould for a good, hot shower. "All right. Now, you should probably go. That Death Eater is waiting for you, after all." She nodded briskly, then to his surprise, leaned down and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was very glad that she immediately turned around and marched out the door, so she didn't see the rather dopey expression that took over his face.   
  
"Draco Malfoy will be given a set of rooms adjoining my own," she told the Death Eater imperiously. "They will be furnished in the same style as my own. He is not to be harmed. Now take me back to my rooms."   
  
******************************************************************************   
  
Lili spent the rest of the day practising her Mage powers. To her delight, she discovered that she had the power of reanimating dead wood, although she stopped practising after her table grew roots and suddenly needed to be watered. At nine-thirty, Mitty appeared and insisted it was her duty to dress Lili in a nightgown. A frilly, pink, be-ribboned nightgown. At ten, Lili was dressed in a plain white nightshirt and sitting in her bed, fuming at the lack of pajamas in the wardrobe. At ten-fifteen, a door appeared in between Lili's wardrobe and table, and to her delight Draco Malfoy entered through it. To her frustration, Mitty swept him out, and closed the door firmly behind him. Lili fell asleep muttering about bossy house-elves.   
  
She woke up gasping for air in the pitch-black room. Mitty had put out the torches after she fell asleep, and now Lili was in the dark, trying to remember what her nightmare had been about. All she succeeded in doing was scaring herself, with flashes of a ruined house, and a baby with dark hair and silvery-gray eyes.   
  
She fumbled out of bed, tripping over the tiny stool Mitty had been sitting on and shivering at the temperature of the room. Miraculously, she found her way to the door between her room and Draco's.   
  
His room was as dark as her own. "Draco?" she whispered, as softly as possible.   
  
She heard him roll over in bed. "Earth? What's wrong?" She didn't answer for a moment, then spoke, a little ashamedly.   
  
"I'm scared."   
  
Draco smiled in the dark. He had no idea that this was the first time since she was nine years old that Lili had admitted to being scared of anything. "It's all right. Here," he said, rolling over. "We can share a bed tonight." He didn't tell her, but he hadn't been able to sleep either, and her companionship helped him. Of course, the part of him that wasn't prematurely fifty was glad for the excuse to share a bed with her, too.   
  
Gratefully, she slid into the bed. "I'm not always afraid of the dark," she said quickly. "Most of the time I even like it. But it's so absolute here. Not even starlight." Draco simply nodded and slipped one arm around her waist. In a minute, they were both fast asleep.   
  
******************************************************************************   
  
Draco woke up before Lili. The torches had been lit, and he looked down at her. Asleep, she looked almost vulnerable, and he wanted to try and protect her. **Of course,** he thought, watching her face turn into a scowl and her fingernails dig into the pillow, **after that swordfight, it's not really as if she NEEDS protecting. I bet if it came to that, she'd end up protecting me.. oh, there she is, she's waking up.**   
  
And she was. As she opened her eyes, she said sleepily, "Draco? What are you doing here?"   
  
"Don't you remember?" he asked blandly. "We just had a night of wild, passionate sex."   
  
"Did we really?" she asked, curiously and sleepily.   
  
"Yes. And it was damn good. Want to go for another round?"   
  
"Liar," she yawned, hitting him lightly with a spare pillow. "You just want to get some."   
  
"Damn straight."   
  
She sat up, and her hair fell all over her face. "I'm going to go take a shower," she informed him. "You should too. You can come into my room when you're done, and we can talk." She slid out of the bed, and was in her bathroom when she noticed Draco was following her. "What are you doing?"   
  
"Taking a shower, of course," he said with a perfectly straight face, pulling a towel off the rack.   
  
Lili hit him with one of the spare towels. "Go on, ya bum! Go back to your own shower!" He laughed and ran from the barrage of peach-colored towels.   
  
******************************************************************************   
  
When Draco finished his shower, he made his way back to Lili's room and sat down in one of the chairs. He could hear Lili in the shower, singing some song about mermaids with a bad Irish accent. After a moment, the water stopped, and Lili emerged from the bathroom, acommpianied by a cloud of steam, dressed in a simple blue cotton robe and rubbing her hair dry with a towel while singing that song. She stopped when she saw Draco, and blushed.   
  
"The song is good. The accent is bad. Where'd you learn that song, anyway?" he asked.   
  
"My dad is big on folk songs. That one is Irish, I think, I know it's a sailor's song, and even though we have some Irish blood in us, we can't get the accent right. Not for lack of trying on my Dad's part, though." She made a face. "Now, let's talk about important things, not my bad singing." She smiled. "So why d'you think it didn't work?" They both knew what she was talking about.   
  
"No idea." Lili traced a five-pointed star on the tabletop with her finger as Draco talked. "We had all four element Mages, we had the Tools, I don't-" he stopped as Lili suddenly jerked her head upright and gasped. "What? What's wrong?" **Those seem to be my new favorite words,** he thought vaguely, but pushed the thought away.   
  
"I just figured it out," she whispered, almost to herself. "It was so obvious!"   
  
"What? What was so obvious? Tell me!" He knew he sounded like a five year old on the verge of a temper tantrum, but at the moment, he didn't particularly care.   
  
Lili shook her head, and brushed her wet hair impatiently out of her eyes. "I just got it, with the star-" she traced the five pointed star on the table again. "Some cultures use the five pointed star to represent the elements." She quickly sketched a star on a scrap of paper.   
  
She circled the first point, on the side. "Fire."   
  
Her pen moved down. "Water."   
  
Across. "Air."   
  
And to the fourth point. She smiled. "Earth."   
  
But there was one point left on the star, and it was this she circled now, moving the pen around a few times more than she needed to. "Spirit."   
  
  
  
  
(A/N) Ha ha ha, cliffie! I'm so cruel, ain't I? I could't help it! At least I had some romance in there, right? I told you I would! Besides, I wanted to get another chapter up tonight, as a tanku (thank you in toddler-talk, I have a baby brother) for being so patient! Sniff, sniff, I love you all! You're all great! Okay, I got two reviews since I put up the last chapter a few hours ago! In the wonderful words of Mario, here we go!   
  
Fruitbat- Yes! I know! As much as I love Star Wars, George Lucas must be going senile, to be putting that Jar Jar creature in! Evil! Evilevilevil! And thank you for the compliment!   
  
chrosnia- Thanks! I am so glad to be home! Real food!   
  
Ady- Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry! Dr. Bojangles said I had to have another chapter out tonight, blame him!   
  
And, as my closing remark (for this chapter) REVIEW, DAMMIT! WHAT IN THE SAM HILL ARE Y'ALL WAITING FOR! If I don't get enough reviews, I might get discouraged, and not write any more... nice long reviews, too! Not 'good story, keep writing' (yes, I'm a hypocrite, shut up people, I'll start writng longer reviews for your stories). Tell me what scenes you liked! What you didn't like! What you want to happen! If you want examples, look at Ady, Rogue15, and Freda Potter's reviews! Those are the good ones! They inspire me! Make me want to write more! SO WRITE THE DAMN REVIEWS! Thank you and come again!   
  
-M.W.


	15. The Fifth

DISCLAIMERS: If I owned Harry Potter, d'you really think I would be spending my time writing crappy fanfictions on the web? No? You're smarter than I thought.   
  
  
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE FIFTH   
  
  
  
"Oh, holy shit," Draco cried, throwing up his hands. "You mean there's a FIFTH element? Another one we need?"   
  
"You catch on quick, young Grasshopper," Lili said solemnly, with just the tiniest hint of a smile.   
  
"Oh that's great, just great," he moaned, rolling his eyes. "So now we need to go out and find some poor fool that's the Spirit Mage, and drag his ass around so we can finally defeat Voldemort. How long is this going to TAKE?"   
  
She grinned evilly. "Not as long as you would think. I know who the Spirit Mage is. Well, I think I do, anyway."   
  
"Who?"   
  
"Draco, Draco, Draco," she shook her head teasingly, and a drop of water from her still wet hair landed on his cheek. "You wouldn't think you'd be so naive. It's you, of course."   
  
"Me?" he cried. "Oh, great." He dropped his head on the table, producing a loud *clunk*. And just how did you figure this out?"   
  
"It's the prophecy," she responded easily. "You never heard it, I think. It goes like this: 'The elements of nature will be embodied by four powerful witches and wizards of our time. Together, before the turn of the millenium, all the elements will find their legendary weapons and use them to create the light that will banish the dark. Earth is the master swordsman, Air is the Archer, Fire carries the spear, and Water is the Defender. The Elements will know each other from the past, and know things about each other they have never been told. Air, Fire, and Water are close, but Earth is far and alone. But Earth is the tie that will bind the others closer to create the light.'" She paused, considering. "The first clue is the way it says 'all the elements will find their legendary weapons, and use them to create the light'. ALL the elements. And there are five, not four. So that's the first thing. What told me it was you was the part that goes 'Earth is the tie that will bind the others closer'. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all friends before I even got to Hogwarts. They don't need me to bind them closer. But you do. I was the one who brought you into the group, and honestly, if I didn't want you in our group, the others wouldn't have wanted to share a planet with you, much less let you travel with them."   
  
Draco nodded, he couldn't deny it. "True. Harsh, but true. But what about my weapon? We never found a Spirit temple or weapon."   
  
"That's because Spirit, unlike the other elements, isn't exactly physical. It's more of a mental element, and therefore you have no physical weapon." Lili was mentally flipping through her books. "You do get some cool new powers though. Telekinesis, telepathy, mind reading (unless the person knows how to block it), illusions, invisibility- stuff like that. You get all the cool little odds and ends. No mind control, though."   
  
"Damn. The rest of it sounds pretty cool, though. And how do you know all this, anyway?"   
  
"Doesn't it? And SAM had a class called Natural Magic. We studied the elements, amond other things." They were both quiet for a moment, the Lili said abruptly, "So, Draco, have you ever seen a Star Wars movie?"   
  
******************************************************************************   
  
A few hours later, Draco strolled back to his room. Only after he had closed the door behind him did he let his fear show. They were trapped in the fortress of the most dangerous wizard on the planet, and had only two days left until either Lili got a funky new tattoo or they were both dead. Draco was unsure which choice he preffered.   
  
But, in short, they had no way of getting out themselves. They needed help from the outside, and Draco knew just how to get it. Lili's description of his Spirit powers had given him an idea. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander across the countryside, looking for anything familiar. He felt something- three somethings, actually. One seemed more receptive than the others. As he recognized the aura, he hesitated, but only for a second.   
  
**Potter?** he thought.   
  
Miles away, Harry Potter almost fell off his broom as the last voice he wanted to hear echoed through his skull. **Malfoy?** He thought back.   
  
**The one and only. I'm with Earth, we need your help. ALL of your help,** he added, not wanting Harry to think he was calling on Harry alone.   
  
**Where are you?** Came the response. Draco sighed.   
  
**If I knew, we'd be long gone. All I know is that we're in Voldemorts fortress. Can't tell you more than that. But this is the situation.** he explained Lili's predicament, and was surprised to feel Harry's anger radiating through their link.   
  
**We're coming,** was all Harry 'said'. **I can follow your link, even after you break it, it leaves a distinct trail. Kind of like a slug.** Draco ignored the analogy. **It's going to be close, timewise, though. It should take us about two and a half days to get there, but if we hurry, we should make it.**   
  
**Good. And Potter?**   
  
**Yeah?**   
  
**Thanks.** And Draco ended the connection, sitting back in his armchair and smiling. After a moment, Lili stuck her head in the room.   
  
"Hey Draco, c'mere, see what I got!" She grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the door to her room, where she gestured grandly at the small loom that was being set up against the wall.   
  
"And what is the purpose of this?" Draco asked, but he was smiling, watching the way Lili danced from foot to foot, like an excited toddler.   
  
"So I can weave, of course! Wait a minute-" she paused as the house-elves who had been setting it up bowed to her and left the room. As soon as they were gone, she turned back to Draco and explained further, in a more sober tone. "It's not just for fun. There's magic you can do with thread, if you know how." She picked up a piece of purple yarn about a foot long. "Here, watch. Walk in a circle." He did so. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and tied the yarn in a knot. Instantly, his feet tangled up and he fell over. She looped the yarn around her finger, and suddenly he couldn't move his arms. He looked up at her pleadingly, and she laughed and threw the yarn in the fire, reaching out with her other hand to help him up. "See what I mean? But I am going to use this loom to weave."   
  
She began digging in a large cardboard box, full of yarn of all different colors. She pulled out a deep forest green, an elegant gold, and a dark brown. She set up the green and brown on the loom and began weaving rapidly. "I AM using magic here," she explained. "Like the healing, it's an easier type of wandless magic. At SAM I worked on wandless magic a lot, all this does is let me work about ten times as fast as I normally would."   
  
"How is it you can use wandless magic so easily?" Draco asked curiously from his chair. "It's supposed to be something only the strongest witches or wizards can do. Not even Dumbledore's mastered it."   
  
"I said that I worked on it a lot. Plus, vague magic like this is much, much, much easier than what you hear about in the newspapers. If I tried to do an actual spell without a wand, even a low-scale one, I would probably be in a coma for a year, if not dead. I'm only slightly good at wandless. Only healing and threadwork." By the time Lili was done talking, she had almost six inches of green cloth, with the brown and the gold mixed in in a strange pattern. It was the type of thing that was clear when you saw it out of the corner of your eye, but when you looked at it straight on, you couldn't tell just what it was supposed to be. Draco knew what it was without even looking, he knew what Lili was like.   
  
"It's the forest." She nodded and stroked the cloth. After a moment, she kept weaving, obviously concentrating. Draco slipped up from his chair and quietly left the room, leaving Lili to get on with her work.   
  
It was a very tired Earth Mage that went to sleep that night. So tired, in fact, that she hadn't been able to argue with Mitty about her nightclothes, and, as a result, had fallen asleep in a pink frilly thing, that she would never have worn in her right mind. Again, she woke up in the middle of the night, this time she was crying. All she knew was that it had been the same nightmare as the previous night. Angrily, she wiped away the tears, and as she climbed into Draco's bed, she thought how strange it was that she was having nightmares now, when she had never had them before. Draco asked no questions, but just hugged her, and they both fell asleep.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(A/N) Thank you, thank you, thank you! Ha HA! I promised you people romance, and I wrote romance (kind of). So, who saw Draco being a Mage coming? Probably everyone, but, oh well. And, for those of you who liked the gossip-thingy back in Chapter Eleven (like Freda Potter), I rewrote it! There's more (probably bad, but oh well). Read! Review! Especially Review!   
  
SPECIAL NOTE TO ADY: Remember your saying, be excellent to me (please don't hurt me, blame Dr. Bojangles!) Sorry I haven't been emailing you chapters, Dr. Bojangles said just post 'em! Sorry again! And I just read your review. Wheezers? I love that word! And I have a special reward for you... (drumroll please)..... (I SAID, drumroll please)...... (Oh come on, where the hell are my sound effects people? Wait a minute.. Okay, here we go, drumroll please!)... ..... Ady, you are the Reviewer of the Week!! (APPLAUSE). Mainly, you are my faveorite reviewer. Until next Tuesday, when I pick again.   
  
  
Well, I have to go back to writing chapter 16! See y'all later!   
  
  
Luv y'all lots!   
  
-M.W.


	16. The Choice

DISCLAIMERS: I told you not to make me go into this....   
  
  
CHPATER SIXTEEN: ...UM... OH, FORGET THE DAMN TITLE   
  
  
  
  
It was only the next morning that their situation really began to sink in. Draco, like always, was sullen and withdrawn, sitting in his chair and staring moodily into space. Lili was extremely irritable, trying to avoid all thoughts of what was happening and preferring to sink her concentration into her weaving. After a few hours, she pulled the new bolt of cloth off the loom. It was a foot longer than she was tall, and about three feet wide. Draco watched as she pulled out a regular needle and thread, and began sewing with quick, sure movements. Slowly, it took on the form of a hooded cloak. Quickly, Lili made the last knot, and slipped it on.   
  
"There!" she said triumphantly.   
  
"There what?" Draco drawled.   
  
"There, my new cloak is done. Isn't it beautiful?" She twirled around, and Draco had to admit it was very nice, all in rich greens and browns, embroidered in an elegant gold.   
  
"Nice. But what's the point? You could've just taken a cloak out of the wardrobe, you didn't need to make one."   
  
"I did tell I was weaving this with thread magic. It's a protection cloak. It works a bit like armor, well armor against magic. But it doesn't stop everything."   
  
"Like what?" he asked curiously, reaching down and fingering the hem of the cloak. It was soft and warm.   
  
"I'm really not sure," she answered. "We'd only just covered protection cloaks when I left SAM. But I think all it stops are those spells that do harm to your soul. Curses and hexes go through it just fine. Death curses included. Because those just hurt your body," she added sarcastically. "Now, let's-" she was cut off as a shimmering yellow light appeared in between her and Draco. As they watched, it shaped itself into the tired form of one Harry Potter.   
  
Lili moved so she was standing next to Draco. "Harry!" She cried. Then- "an astral projection!"   
  
Draco shook his head in exasperation. "You're as bad as Granger, you know that?" He turned his attention back to Harry. "So what's up, Potter?" he asked, crossing his legs and sitting back, obviously the one in charge.   
  
"Hi, Lili. Hello, Malfoy," Harry nodded tiredly. "We're still heading toward you two as fast as we can. We should be there by tomorrow afternoon. We can go faster, though, if we have to. Do we?"   
  
"No," Lili lied. "Don't push too hard, Harry. I can deal with Voldemort if I have to, but you guys are going to be fighting when you get here, so you can't be too tired. We can deal if you're late."   
  
"By how? Getting the Dark Mark?" Harry asked irritably. "We'll get there." And he disappeared with a curt nod.   
  
"Not one for long goodbyes, is he?" Draco remarked. Lili grunted, annoyed. "Well, we have a good day and a half left. What do you want to do, now that you've finished your lovely new cloak?" He gestured towards the green and gold concoction, and Lili's mood seemed to brighten with the compliment. In fact, for some reason, she was downright chipper now.   
  
"Up for some blackjack?"   
  
******************************************************************************   
  
  
"I cannot believe your luck," Draco complained as she scooped up her winnings again. "That;s what- seven hands in a row?"   
  
"Eight," she corrected absently, counting the scraps of paper that they were substituting for money. "You owe me sixteen galleons and three knuts."   
  
"Whatever," he grumbled. "Let's try poker now."   
  
She grinned. "You're on, sucker."   
  
******************************************************************************   
  
"I give up!" Draco cried fifteen minutes later, throwing his cards up into the air. "How the hell anyone can be so good at cards is beyond me. Are you cheating?" He squinted at her.   
  
"Wouldn't you like to know," she asked, handing him the new IOU to sign.   
  
"You've got one hell of a poker face,"he said as he snatched the paper away from her. "Look at this! I owe you thirty-five galleons!"   
  
"And twelve sickles," she added. He threw the IOU back in her face, and she grinned.   
  
"I am not playing cards with you ever again. Ever," He said flatly.   
  
She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Now, I need your help. I have to practice."   
  
"Practice what? If it's more thread magic, I'm not helping," he warned.   
  
She laughed. "No, don't worry. I need an opponent to practice my fencing." Draco gulped, remembering their last fight. The thought of going up against he again was not an appealing one. He shook his head. "Oh, come on," she whined. "Please? Pretty please with sugar on top? Pretty please with sugar and a cherry?"   
  
"Oh, not the face, not the face!" Draco moaned as Lili pouted. "Fine, fine, you win! But no disfiguring scars, okay? That's all I ask." He picked up the silver sword lying across the bed, and turned to face Lili. He suddenly realized just how hard robes were to move in, especially compared to the shirt and breeches Lili had managed to coax Mitty into finding for her. But damned if he wasn't going to try to win anyway.   
  
"On three. One. Two. Thr- hey!" Draco normally followed the Slytherin method of fighting, and Rule One was never wait until the end of the count. He had struck out with his silver blade, and Lili had blocked it just in time. "Bastard," she grinned. Draco took it as a compliment, then forgot everything except the sword flying at his arm. And then everything except the gash in his arm.   
  
"Oh, gods, Draco, I'm sorry! I thought you would block it!" He had his hand over the cut, which was slowly seeping blood.   
  
"It's okay. I'm fine." He said easily. He had had worse.   
  
"Uh huh. And if I cut off your arm entirely, you'd say it was only a flesh wound." She grinned. "Come on, let Dr. Lili see it." He moved his hand, and she saw that he had been right, it wasn't too bad. "It's just bleeding a lot," she told him, letting the healing magic seal up the gash. "But no more. We need to be nice and healthy for Voldemort to kill," she winked at him.   
  
Draco realized suddenly why she was like this. Most people, kidnapped by a Dark Lord and given the choice to join him or be killed, would be panicking. Lili, although brave, was far from brave enough to not be afraid. So Draco had wondered why she was acting the way she was. And it had dawned on him. Lili hid her fear under bad jokes, and distracted her mind from it. It seemed to work very well, too.   
  
He stood up and dusted himself off, wincing at the tiny stab of pain leftover from the sword wound. "I'm going to go change my robes," he informed her curtly, and left the room.   
  
  
******************************************************************************   
  
Time passed incredibly quickly, as it always does when you are not looking forward to something. Far, far too soon, it was time. Time for Lili to inform Voldemort of her choice.   
  
"I can't do this!" Lili wailed to Draco as she paced back and forth. "I don't even know what I'm going to say! Do I agree or disagree? Draco, help me."   
  
"I can't." He shook his head irritably. "You were the fool who told Potter he didn't have to rush getting here. You dug your own hole, so to speak."   
  
"Yeah, well, I- oh, screw it." She collapsed in a chair, holding her head in her hands.   
  
"You've got to do it, Earth," Draco told her.   
  
Her head shot up. "You think I don't know that?" she hissed. "Of course I've got to do it! It's not like anyone will do it for me! Now go away." Her eyes narrowed. "I don't want to talk to you right now."   
  
Draco's pride told him to stay where he was. His common sense told him Lili was not the safest person to be around at the moment. Stupidly, he followed pride.   
  
"Gods, Earth, you know what I meant! Will you quit twisting my words around? It's almost like you want to fight!"   
  
"I do not want to fight!" she screamed at him. "I fight if I have to, but I don't go looking for a fight! I'm not a Slytherin!" she snarled.   
  
Draco didn't flinch. "Well, you almost were," he said in a low voice. "And maybe you should have been."   
  
Lili's eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed. "Get out," she hissed. "Now." Draco, taking one look at her face, spun around and left the room.   
  
  
  
  
He had been lying on his bed, staring up at the canopy for a good half-hour when he heard a knock on the door that led to the hallway. Knowing the etiquette of Voldemort's fortress, he got up and opened it. A Death Eater stood on the other side of the doorway. "You are to come to the Viewing Hall with my Lady, to speak to my Lord," the Death Eater said in a raspy voice. "Follow me." And the Death Eater strode away, without even looking back to see if Draco was following him.   
  
Draco was following him, and the Death Eater led Draco to a set of doors, the same doors Lili had entered upon her arrival, although he didn't know it. Draco followed the Death Eater down the steps, and he entered the Viewing Hall, noticing it was the only room with large stained glass windows, most depicting horrible scenes. Then he got a good look at Lili.   
  
She was sitting bolt upright in an armchair facing Voldemort, looking regal and imposing in her royal purple dress robes. Her face was blank and expressionless, staring straight ahead. She gave off the impression of being the kind of person who cared for no one and nothing. Draco felt his heart sink.   
  
Voldemort smiled nastily. "Ah, Draco Malfoy. Have a seat, please." Draco gingerly lowered himself into the armchair, never taking his eyes off the serpentine wizard in front of him. Voldemort continued talking, either oblivious to the look of hatred Draco was giving him, or ignoring it. "I have heard it told that you have... switched allegiances?" Draco nodded grimly, and Voldemort's red eyes flashed. "I see. And so you are now working for that fool, Dumbledore." It was not a question, but Draco answered it anyway.   
  
"No, I am not. I do not work for Dumbledore, but, with all due respect, I do not work for you either. I follow Liliana Grey, and whichever side of this war she picks, I will follow her." For one quick moment, he shifted his gaze to Lili, and, at his words, he thought he saw the mask of emotionlessness slip. But then it was back, and he turned back to Voldemort, who was staring at the blond boy in something like amazement.   
  
Then, to Draco's horror, Voldemort burst out in cruel laughter. "Did you hear that, Liliana? You have a follower already, my dear!" But his laughter stopped, and his voice dropped to a temperature that could freeze tomatoes, low and menacing. "But remember, now that he has pledged his loyalty to you, if you choose wrong, you both shall die." He sat back in his chair. "A pity you wouldn't give your loyalty to me, Draco. You had such promise."   
  
For a moment, there was silence in the room. Draco looked at Voldemort, Voldemort looked at Lili, and Lili stared blankly into empty space. Draco was a little unnerved to see that she wasn't blinking, and hadn't been for the past ten minutes. Voldemort broke the tense silence with the sentence Draco had been dreading for three days. "And so, my dear. Do you join us?"   
  
Lili did not answer. She didn't blink, or make any signal to show that she had even heard him. She stared, and, after a moment, Voldemort spoke again, impatiently. "Did you hear me, girl? Do yo-"   
  
Lili interrupted him swiftly. "I will join you." She turned her head to look at Voldemort, and Draco caught a glimpse of her face. Her eyes were empty and blank, and her face was set. She blinked slowly, as if trying to come to terms with her decision. "I will join you," she repeated.   
  
Voldemort laughed that horrible laugh. "Excellent! Do you wish a new name, or shall you stick with Liliana?"   
  
Lili smiled mirthlessly. It reminded Draco somewhat of a shark. "Liliana is plain, simple, and I never liked it in the first place. I am Sarrassi."   
  
"Sarrassi." Voldemort nodded, trying it out. "Well, Lady Sarrassi, give me your left arm. You must recieve the Dark Mark."   
  
"No!" Lili said sharply, and Voldemort looked at her suspiciously. But she continued. "You do not wear the Dark Mark on your arm, and you say we are to be equal. Therefore, I will not wear the Dark Mark either."   
  
Voldemort's face told Draco he was beginning to regret making her powerful. "Not quite equal, my dear Sarrassi. But nevertheless, I will humor you. You will not recieve the Dark Mark. He, however, is another story." He pointed to Draco, and it took all of the boy's self-control to keep from showing his surprise. "With you joining us, so has he. He must recieve the Dark Mark. Give me your arm, boy. Watch, Sarrassi," he instructed. "The incantation is 'mormosdre'."   
  
"My Lord, I must object," Lili said, smoothly but firmly. Draco mentally warned her not to push her luck. "He has joined me, so should not I be allowed to put my own mark on him?" The Dark Lord's nostrils flared, and Lili quickly changed her request. "I only wish to make a slight change to your Mark, simply to show that this one is under my direct command, although he is under yours ultimately."   
  
Voldemort seemed pacified by this, and nodded lazily. "Very well, Sarrassi. I will humor you in this, too. But push no further." Lili bowed her head. Voldemort gestured to a Death Eater, who handed Lili his wand. The Dark Lord and most of the Death Eaters in the room moved their own wands to point at Lili. "Not that we don't trust you, Lady Sarrassi," Voldemort drawled, "But we would rather be sure of your allegiance before arming you. You understand."   
  
"Yes, my Lord," Lili murmured. Pointing the borrowed wand at Draco's arm, she murmured something, and when the flash of light cleared, Draco looked at his arm and saw what appeared to be a snake with large golden eyes, curled around a staff topped with a skull. The snake's tail was inside the skull's mouth, resembling the Dark Mark. "You see, my Lord? When you call him, the skull will appear. When I call, the eyes of the snake will appear."   
  
"Yes," Voldemort mused. "Yes, that will do. Now, the both of you-" Voldemort never finished his sentence, because at that moment, Harry Potter came crashing into the room through the largest of the stained glass windows.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(A/N) Ha ha ha! Cliffie! Oh, boy, is that a cliffie! I enjoy torturing you all, I really do. But You're all going to be tortured for awhile, I start school on Thursday, and I'm trying to get good grades in high school, which means I'm actually going to have to work. Oh, the horror. Well, I'm going to go post it now, so I'll finish this up, no review comments this time. Only this: Until I get fifteen reviews (there were 44 up when I posted this), I don't post the next chapter. Capiesh? So review, and reviews saying only "It was great, write more" don't count! Make them good! Ok? Good! Peace out everybody, Moon Warrior out!   
  
-M.W.


	17. The Battle of Light

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own it, don't try to sue. I'll countersue, and you'll lose everything except your pants. Well, maybe your pants too, if they're name brand.   
  
  
  
  
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE BATTLE OF LIGHT   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
As Voldemort and the Death Eaters gaped, Lili coolly stood up and sauntered over to where Harry lay stunned on the floor, shards of colored glass surrounding him. She reached down and pulled his wand from his grasp, turning it on him with a rather nasty smile.   
  
"Well, Potter," she drawled. "Certainly took you long enough to get here." She grinned, and the harshness in her voice evaporated as she turned and called out the broken window. "Ron! Hermione! It's me, Lili! I'm with Harry, come quick!" Two broomsticks and their riders zoomed through the broken glass, and both stopped short in shock at the sight before them. "Oh, come on down," Lili invited. "Can't say you won a car, but Harry might live for a few extra moments if you do." Both Ron and Hermione cautiously swooped down to the ground, looks of hatred on their faces. "Draco!" Lili called sharply, not taking her eyes off her three former friends. The blond boy stepped to her side, his face just as empty as hers had been. although he broke the mask for a moment to throw a cruel smirk at Harry. "The wands," she instructed, as if simply reminding him to feed a pet. Draco moved to Ron and Hermione in turn, snatching their wands from them, ignoring it when Ron tried to spit at him. "Oh, and my sword, too, Weasley." Fuming, Ron unstrapped the Earth Sword from his belt, where he had been carrying it, and dropped it unceremoniously into her outstretched hand. He was pleased to see the way she almost dropped it, the tip of the blade just barely, barely hitting the stone floor. **But,** he wondered, **Why didn't she try to take our weapons too? She knows we have them.** Then he knew why. He turned his attention back to Lili and Draco. Lili had stuck Harry's wand in her belt, and turned to Voldemort.   
  
"My Lord, you have wished to kill Harry Potter for several years. Please, go ahead." She smiled at the tall, thin, red-eyed wizard and bowed her head respectfully.   
  
"Very good, Lady Sarrassi. I thank you for your help." The words gave her credit, but the tone did not. Nevertheless, she smiled and stepped backwards. Voldemort rose from his chair and approached the small group, taking a moment to place a hand on Lili, Lady Sarrassi's, hair. She smiled again, and bowed her head. Voldemort approached Harry. "So, Harry Potter. You are going to die, betrayed by one of your own friends. Sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it?" He laughed, high and cold. "Your scar is hurting you terribly, isn't it? You can barely think, you probably can't even register what I'm saying. But no matter. You don't need to. It's only your last words that count. Do you have any?" Voldemort looked at him sharply, and Harry struggled to stand up.   
  
Harry looked at all the people in the room, from Voldemort, to Draco and Lili on his left, and Ron and Hermione of his right, to the Death Eaters. And he rasped out one word. "Now!" And Voldemort's little world turned upside down.   
  
  
  
At that second, Lili and Draco threw each wand back to its owner, Lili shoving Voldemort, then dodging out of the way before he could curse her. And then each Mage took out his or her weapon.   
  
Harry shot arrow after arrow into the crowd of Death Eaters, each one finding a mark in a throat or chest. Draco stood beside him, building energy, and then lashing out with psychic attacks that left Death Eaters writhing on the cold stone floor, clutching their heads and screaming with agony. There was a smile on his face, evidence of a vindictive sort of pleasure that he took from causing pain to these people. Hermione crouched in front of them, her shield strapped to her arm. She was using it to bounce the spells back to those who shot them, and there was more than one cry of alarm from a Death Eater who found his own spell deflected back at him.   
  
Ron was some distance away, treating the spear as if it were a baby, and the Death Eaters- well, they weren't being treated quite as well. There was a small pile of bodies around him. He jerked with the spear, and another body joined the pile.   
  
But Lili was the one that drew the eye. Slashing and whirling, stabbing and blocking, a look of fierce joy on her face, she was clearly in her element. She had shortened her robes with Harry's wand, although jaggedly, and they were now to a bit above her knees, allowing her easy movement. With her hair flying around her head, her sword flashing, she looked like some sort of ethereal war goddess.   
  
Her mind was working quickly. Voldemort had not attacked them himself: why? Either he was afraid, he wasn't used to being attacked like this, or he was building energy to attack them. She decided it was probably the latter.   
  
Taking one last jab at a particularly annoying Death Eater, who simply refused to die, she turned to the others, grabbing Ron by the collar as she ran back to the other three. "Okay, people people people, we have to work the spell, now!"   
  
"But how are we going to keep them from cursing us?" Draco asked, holding his head as if he had a headache, which he probably did. He took that opportunity to jump away from a curse directed at him, and Lili blocked it with the flat of her sword.   
  
"I'll do it," volunteered Hermione, not taking her eyes off the small group of Death Eaters. "But I need someone to help me, feed me power. Anyone?"   
  
"I'll help," Lili nodded at her friend.   
  
"All right. You'll need to be the last to join the circle, though. Get it?"   
  
"Got it."   
  
"Good."   
  
"Not that I want to end the little party, here," Draco cried exasperatedly, "But we've got a rather large army of Death Eaters attacking us. Can we get going?" The others nodded, and as Hermione spoke a few words, a large blue bubble surrounded them. She spoke again, and the bubble gained a hint of green. Every time a spell hit the wall, a bright green flash would occur, then fade away into the rest of the bubble. The five nodded one last time, and stepped into a circle around Draco.   
  
Ron joined first, placing the blade of his spear on Draco's right shoulder. "Power of the mighty Fire, strong and virtuous, He who warms us, and gives us Light. The Power of Fire joins Earth, Air, Water and Spirit now to create the cleansing Light." At the last word, a bright red light flared up, surrounding Ron and following the connection his spear made to Draco. Ron nodded to Harry, and the black-haired boy stepped forward.   
  
Harry rested the edge of his bow on Draco's right shoulder. "Power of the mighty Air, Element invisible and strong, He who strengthens our hearts and destroys all unnatural. The Air Power joins Earth, Fire, Water, and Spirit now to create the cleansing Light." As he finished, a yellow light surrounded him too, and moved through Draco, connecting him to Ron.   
  
Now it was Hermione's turn. As she moved to place the shield against Draco's back, the bubble they were in turned entirely green, and Lili's face paled with the effort of maintaining it. "Power of the mighty Water, flowing, Mother of Change, She who gives us drink. The Power of Water joins Earth, Air, Fire and Spirit now to create the cleansing Light." The blue light connected to Harry and Ron's light. And it was Lili's turn.   
  
As she placed the tip of the sword at Draco's collarbone, the shield fell away, and she began her incantation hurriedly, stumbling over the words. "Power of the mighty Earth, Mother of Life, She who supports us, fee- aaaahhh!" Lili's words switched to an agonized scream as she dropped the sword and fell to the ground.   
  
Voldemort stepped out of the shadows. "Foolish girl!" He snarled, squeezing a doll tightly in his hand. If the Mages had had the chance to look closely, they would all have noticed its remarkable resemblance to Lili. "You thought I would simply trust your word, with nothing to back it up? You are naive, girl, and it will get you killed!" He squeezed the doll even tighter, and Lili wailed inhumanly.   
  
In between her screams, Lili choked out a few words. "Help me! Mother, help me!" Her friends looked at her body, writhing on the ground in pain. The spell was unfinished, they could not move to help her. "Help me, Mother!" And then they all heard it, even Voldemort. A great, deep, old voice, older than time, almost, and wise.   
  
**I help, Child.**   
  
A noise arose, a howling, from outside. And a lithe golden body launched itself at Voldemort. Whatever he was holding fell out of his hand, and Lili scrambled to her feet. "Naguret!" she gasped, out of breath.   
  
**The Mother has called me back, child. Now finish your task. I have little, if any strength left.**   
  
Lili grabbed the sword, and placed it at Draco's collarbone. He winced slightly as she pressed too hard, and blood seeped into his collar. "Power of the mighty Earth, Mother of Life, She who supports us, feeds us, homes us. The Earth Power joins Air, Fire, Water and Spirit now to create the cleansing Light." A green light enveloped Lili and connected to the others. As the connection was completed, Draco's body began to glow with a silver light, and he began to shake.   
  
They all felt the same pain, incredibly intense. Harry thought, in what little part of him was left reasonable, that it was something to rival the Cruciatus curse. But while the Cruciatus was dark, this pain was almost cleansing. He watched with interest as Draco threw his head back and screamed, a silver light shooting out of his mouth. He didn't even realize that he himself was screaming too.   
  
Now, none of the five Mages saw what happened after this, so I myself shall have to tell you. The light shot from Draco's mouth, bright and pure. The cleansing light. It reached high to the ceiling, and arched back downward in a perfect arc. And it hit Voldemort. He screamed, writhing in the pain that the light brought to someone so dark.   
  
"And the Light shone in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not."   
  
Voldemort gave one last scream and disappeared, as the five Mages fell to the ground.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
(A/N) Wow, I liked the way that chapter came out! I was expecting the battle to come out kind of corny, but I liked that! And no, I, myself, M.W., am not narrating the story. You won't find out who that is until the end of the sequel, thank you very much. Now, there will probably be one, maybe two more chapters to this, then Warriors is done. But fret not (if you like this)! I'm turning this into The Lili Chronicles! There's gonna be two sequels and a prequel to this. I'm holding villain auditions right now, Voldemort is dead. Dead-dead. Not Obi-Wan Kenobi-comes-back-for-a-special-guest-appearance dead. Ding-Dong-the-witch-is-dead-which-old-witch-the-wicked-witch (even though he's a wizard) dead. he is not, I repeat, NOT coming back! So email me and tell me what kind of villain I should have for the next story, even though I may not use it, I appreciate suggestions.   
  
And guess what? M.W.'s birthday is on Monday! Yay! Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me... oh well, not as much fun when there's no friends to try and steal the icing off your slice of cake. Mmmm... cake.... Okay, shutting up now! (My mother bought me a 4 pound tub of jellybeans as a bribe last week, I've eaten about half). And Ady, life's not fair, sorry to break it to you.   
  
Don't forget to R&R, or I might kill a character in the sequel!   
  
Luv ya lots!   
  
-M.W.


	18. The Ending

DISCLAIMER: Read my lips: I own nothing. Try and sue, I have nothing to lose anyway.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE ENDING   
  
  
  
  
  
  
When Lili next opened her eyes, she felt a bit confused. She wasn't in her room at home, and she wasn't in her room at SAM, and she wasn't in her room at Hogwarts. So where the heck was she?   
  
It all came rushing back to her, along with the headache of the millennium, as she sat up. "Oy, anyone get the license number of that truck?" she moaned.   
  
"It was I H8 VOLDY," Draco responded, not bothering to move.   
  
Harry turned his head slightly to look at him. "Not your best material, Malfoy."   
  
"What are you expecting, Mystery Science Theater? We've been unconscious for-" he checked his watch- "five hours. I'm not at top form."   
  
"Five hours? So that's why my back feels like I slept on a mattress full of rocks." Hermione and Ron were sitting up as well, both holding their heads.   
  
"But what happened? Did it work?" All five swiveled their heads around, looking for Voldemort. They saw several prone Death Eater bodies, and the still body of the lioness Naguret lying where she had fallen. Lili crawled to the side of the fallen animal.   
  
"She's dead," she pronounced, although they all knew it already. "I called on the Mother, Gaia, and the Mother gave Naguret life again, enough to help me. I'm not sure if I'm amazed that I was worth the Mother bringing back a dead child, or terrified that I'm an extension of that kind of power."   
  
"A little of each, I think," Draco put in, as he made a halfhearted attempt to stand up.   
  
She smiled. "How is it I can stand you, forget getting along with you? You know me too well." She stood up. "Voldemort's gone, anyway. For good. The Mothers and Fathers made sure of that when they started this. They prepare in advance, them."   
  
"Um, Lili? As wonderful as ancient legend-time is, can we go? This place gives me the creeps." Hermione looked around her and shivered, the stained glass windows were mostly of gruesome battle scenes, with a good murder here and there for flavor. "Not exactly cheerful and enlightening," she muttered under her breath.   
  
Lili rolled her eyes. "Try having to spend three solid days here. With the knowledge that you'll probably die at the end of them. Not fun. I want to get out, now. Let's haul." From seemingly nowhere, she produced a packet of Floo powder. "This can only be used in this fireplace," she gestured to the extremely large fireplace in front of them. "So they let me have it. I got it off Mitty." Ron leaned down, and with a swift gesture, a fire was crackling merrily. It did a lot to lighten the atmosphere.   
  
Draco tossed a handful of powder into the flame. "Hogwarts!" He called, and stepped into the swirling green. The others followed him, Lili, as usual, waiting to be last. Hermione waited with her.   
  
Just as Hermione was about to call out the name, she paused. Looking up at the top of the mantelpiece, she read the engraved words, "Draco Dormiens." She shook her head. "Very cute. He named this place the first half of the school motto. Bet he thought it was clever, too." With one last shake of her head, she called out "Hogwarts!" and disappeared. Lili took one last look around, and followed her friend.   
  
She fell forward into a circular room, and the waiting arms of one Harry Potter. Turning slightly pink, she stood upright and brushed the soot off of what remained of the once glorious purple robe. She tilted her head upwards, and looked into the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore.   
  
"I see you were successful," he commented. "Please, have a seat." He gestured to the last empty chair in the office. It was his own, but Lili sat down in it without the usual "oh-no-I-couldn't"s.   
"I hate to have to ask you this so soon, but what happened?" He gazed at all five, and they squirmed in their seats, none wanting to begin. In the end, it was Harry who spoke.   
  
"You see, Professor, after we left..."   
  
  
  
It took a good hour to get the entire story out. It wouldn't have taken as long, but every few minutes, Lili would stop him to add in some insignificant little detail. The fifth time she did this, Ron told her off in a not-too-nice way, and she, not feeling up to an argument, sat back in her chair and let Harry continue. "It seems kind of... anti-climatic now," he finished.   
  
"I suppose it might, for you, anyway." Dumbledore had, in the meantime, conjured up another chair, and now he leaned back in it. "Harry, you have been up against Voldemort so many times by now, that anything other than some sort of showdown between you and him alone would seem tame to you." Harry looked horrified at this, ever since meeting Lockhart, he had done his best to avoid being sucked into his fame. "It has nothing to do with you as a person, simply the events in your past. And all of you," his gaze widened to include the other four. "A job well done. Mr. Malfoy especially, he had the additional burden of not immediately being accepted. And Miss Grey, thank you for figuring out the Spirit element. I did not realize it, otherwise I would have told you immediately. Let me see... two hundred points to Gryffindor, and two hundred to Slytherin. Just to make it even. Now-"   
  
"Um, Professor?" Lili interrupted him cautiously. "I just have to ask this, really fast... what's today's date?"   
  
Dumbledore looked taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "Why, Miss Grey, today is Tuesday, April the twenty-fifth, and I believe the sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins all have a rather large test in Potions at the moment." Harry, Ron, Draco, and Lili all looked as though they had been hit by lightning, Hermione could not have been more gleeful. "But," he added, "I doubt you will have to worry about that." Hermione's face fell, and the others looked overjoyed. "Now, off you scoot. You all have the rest of the week off. Enjoy yourselves, on Friday there will be a feast. And by the way," he added, as they moved for the door. "My thanks to you, and all the world, Warriors of the Light."   
  
  
  
  
(A/N) That was it! The last chapter! I know it's not all that great, but hey, I'm kinda sick at the moment, and damn stressed out. I'm also rewriting this, the whole story, trying to make it better. I'll repost it when I'm done. And the sequel to this (I don't have a name yet, so all of you with suggestions about anything can email me, it's in my profile) will be coming out soon, I have the whole thing planned. Kinda. Well, it'll work out. Review, email (especially email, I don't get enough), and give me your suggestions! See ya soon, and luv ya lots!   
  
-M.W.


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